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Frustration and disputes seem to persist in Puerto Rican politics more than a month following the general elections.
In a recent illustration of this, outgoing Rep. Mariana Nogales Molinelli of the Citizen Victory Movement (MVC) shared a list of mistakes her party made during the elections held in November on her social media this week.
She pointed out several key missteps. The first involved candidates not gathering the required endorsements to compete, leading to their disqualification by a court.
The second issue was the coalition with the Puerto Rican Independence Party (PIP), where MVC candidates committed to back the PIP’s gubernatorial nominee, Juan Dalmau Ramírez. The PIP also ran candidates for legislative district positions and one for resident commissioner, which Nogales indicated caused vote dilution. As a result, the MVC lost its electoral representation.
Rep. Gretchen Hau Irizarry from the Popular Democratic Party noted on a television program that Nogales articulated what many in her party were hesitant to express.
Hau remarked that the legislator’s grievances emerged only after her electoral defeat.
Sen. Carmelo Ríos Santiago from the New Progressive Party labeled Nogales as self-centered and highlighted the mistakes made by the single-term lawmaker.
Nogales was among the MVC candidates who had to run as a write-in after the Supreme Court of the island mandated her to secure endorsements following her party’s primary elections.
