Puerto Rico Ping! Please Freepmail me if you want on or off the list.
Posted on 04/03/2008 7:08:50 PM PDT by Ebenezer
(English-language translation)
The Popular Democratic Party (PPD) filed a complaint today with the Office of Government Ethics (OEG) against Comptroller Manuel Díaz Saldaña for allegedly using his position to benefit the New Progressive Party (PNP).
PPD Elections Commissioner Gerardo Cruz explained that the complaint is for allegedly violating two articles of the [Government Ethics] Law and pointed out that he hopes that, once the OEG investigates the case, it is referred to the Former Justices Panel of the [Office of] the Special Independent Prosecutor (FEI), since the violation of one of the articles costitutes a grave offense.
The PPD's complaint against Díaz stems from his having made statements against Governor Aníbal Acevedo Vilá and his asking for the Chief Executive's resignation on the same day the indictments against [Acevedo] were handed out for irregularities in the handling of his political-campaign finances.
"[Díaz] is the one who is immoral and corrupt, and he is the one who owes the people of Puerto Rico a resignation," Cruz said during a press conference at the PPD's headquarters in Puerta de Tierra.
Cruz added that Article 3.2 (c) prohibits public officials or employees from using the duties and faculties of their position, as well as public funds and property, to gain advantages, benefits, or privileges for himself or for any other person, business, or entity that are not permitted by law.
However, despite insistent questions from reporters, Cruz could not identify which benefit Díaz obtained for the PNP when asking for the Governor's resignation.
The complaint was also filed for an alleged violation of Article 6, sections A(1), F, and H of the Government Ethics Law, which prohibit officials from using their faculties and their official position, as well as public property or funds, for private or partisan ends or for other ends that are incompatible with public service.
Cruz recalled that Díaz's statements "agitating Puerto Ricans for the Governor's resignation" are not functions the Puerto Rico Constitution grants the Comptroller.
The Constitution establishes that "the Comptroller shall audit all earnings, accounts, and expenditures of the agencies and entities of the Commonwealth and the municipalities, to determine if they have been made in accordance with the law. He shall submit annual reports and all those special reports the Legislative Assembly or the Governor requests."
Neither the Puerto Rico Constitution nor the law that creates the Office of the Comptroller establishes that auditing through public statements, as Díaz regularly makes, is among the Comptroller's duties.
To questions from reporters, Díaz pointed out that the fact that the Governor has not appointed a new Comptroller since Díaz's term expired in October 2007 does not mean the PPD is going to allow "that this Comptroller use his position to advance political causes."
Díaz was appointed Comptroller in 1997 by former Governor Pedro Rosselló [of the PNP], and despite his term having expired, he has not wanted to leave his position until the Governor names a successor.
Díaz, who was also Secretary of the Treasury under Rosselló, has been implicated in irregularities in the handling of money from the Puerto Rico Industrial Incentives Fund (PRIIF), which the government of Puerto Rico granted to corporations during the Rosselló administration with the commitment that they would create jobs that did not materialize.
However, following an investigation, Attorney General Roberto Sánchez Ramos did not recommend that an FEI be assigned to inquire if the matter deserved a criminal investigation against the former Secretary of the Treasury.
ping
To get to the bottom of this, first ask, “is the governor a Democrat?”
Yeah, sort of.
The two big political parties are pretty much both Democrat. They differ only in their stance on statehood, IIRC.
Acevedo is a Democrat and an Obama supporter. However, Obama is distancing himself from the Governor following the indictments.
Puerto Rico Ping! Please Freepmail me if you want on or off the list.
Now I read that the PPD Women’s Organization has censured Senator Sila Mari González for publicly calling on Acevedo not to seek re-election in November (no surprise there, considering González’s mother, former Governor Sila Calderón, is no friend of his). And then, those PPD leaders who were thinking aloud about replacing Acevedo on the ballot are now closing ranks behind the indicted Governor.
The arm-twisting continues.
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