Puerto Rico party to hold vote on its political future
With a possible plebiscite on statehood or independence for Puerto Rico looming, one of the island’s two main parties said Thursday it will ask its members to reconsider or reaffirm its own stance on the U.S. territory’s political future by holding an islandwide vote on the issue.
The announcement by José Luis Dalmau, president of the Popular Democratic Party, follows a proposal last month by a group of U.S. legislators to hold a binding plebiscite giving Puerto Ricans three options: Become America’s 51st state, become fully independent or opt for independence with free association — possibly maintaining U.S. citizenship and other ties with the U.S.. That vote would not include the possibility of maintaining the current commonwealth status.
That choice would appear to threaten the future of Dalmau’s party, founded in the 1930s, which is defined by its support for the current status, under which Puerto Ricans have U.S. citizenship but the island has quasi-autonomy from the United States.
Its main rival, the current governor’s New Progressive Party, advocates for statehood.
Possible statehood will not be an option in the PDP’s Aug. 14 vote. Dalmau said the current status and a free association option that he did not define would be offered. Party spokesman Ángel Raúl Matos told The Associated Press that it’s too early to say whether that would be based on the free association option that U.S. lawmakers proposed as one of three choices.
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