Right I apologise that this is earlier than it should be, but I have to be up ridiculously early tomorrow to go camping in North Wales. This has the unfortunate side-effect of me being away from my computer till Sunday night so I apologise in advance that I won't be able to respond to questions or post any new updates. However I will say that there are some very exciting things lined up for the coming weeks: the first set of former PMs, a QBAM world map, the Free State of Scotland, a redux New England and an interesting alteration to South America
.
But I present to you here
Puerto Rico and the results of the election held today:
Conservatives Secure Plurality in Puerto Rico
SAN JUAN – In a shock election result the Puerto Rican
Union of Conservatives and Reformists (UCR), led by new leader Jenniffer González, have become the largest party in the country’s Chamber of Representatives and will therefore form a government. The UCR displaced the previous
Popular Democratic Party (PPD) and
New Progressive Party (PNP) coalition government, which had governed the country in one form or another since 2008.
At a press conference, González thanked the voters for their support and said she “looked forward to being able to implement their financial plan”. Incumbent First Minister Alejandro García (
PPD) praised his party for running a strong campaign, whilst long-serving PNP leader Juan Dalmau announced his intention to call a leadership election early next year to replace him. Luis Fortuño (
Imperial Conservatives, Democrats and Unionists), MIP for Puerto Rico Est and opposition leader in the Imperial Parliament, sent an open message of congratulations calling it a “proud day for Puerto Ricans”. Alejo Garza (
SFIA), the Floridian First Minister, also congratulated González on her victory and expressed his desire to “continue the close relationship between our two nations”.
The
Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, commonly known as
Puerto Rico,
Puerto Rico-Virgin Islands or occasionally
Puerto Virgo, is a British constituent country located in the Caribbean, with the State of Santo Domingo to the west, the British West Indies Federation to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and the Caribbean Sea to the south.
Originally populated by the indigenous Taíno people, the island was claimed in 1493 by Christopher Columbus for the Crown of Castile. Despite invasion attempts from the French, Dutch, and British the island experienced nearly four centuries of uninterrupted Spanish colonial rule, which transformed the ethnic, cultural and physical landscapes primarily with waves of African slaves, and Canarian, and Andalusian settlers. The creolised population that emerged on the island tilted the political balance toward loyalty to the Spanish Crown, which meant Puerto Rico did not rebel during the Spanish American Wars of Independence.
Puerto Rico remained part of the Spanish colonial empire up until the Spanish Revolution in the 1860s. Puerto Rican nationalists began an uprising in the city of Lares led by Ramón Emeterio Betances that spread to various revolutionary cells across the island, and loyalist and revolutionaries engaged in violent guerrilla warfare throughout the country. British involvement in the Revolution began in June 1868 and was heavily involved on Puerto Rico, with British forces landing on the southern coast and blockading the capital of San Juan. By the end of August, the Puerto Rican revolutionaries had been captured or exiled and in the Peace of Lisbon that ended the Revolution, Britain purchased the island from Spain.
British colonial rule had very little impact upon the daily lives of Puerto Ricans, with many of the pre-Revolution institutions remaining, and slavery was abolished in 1869. The colony would find itself
de facto under Floridian administration, the only other Spanish-speaking part of the Empire, and the colonial Governors were all members of the Floridian nobility. A short revolt in 1898 led to the granting of formal self-government to the colony in 1900, although Florida would retain a prominent role in the development and governance of the island.
Despite the post-war consensus in Britain regarding a gradual end to the British colonial empire, Puerto Rico continued to remain a colony and although attempts were made to secure a transition to independence, Floridian interests repeatedly blocked the efforts. In 1953 Puerto Rico and the neighbouring Virgin Islands merged into a single crown colony, the Virgin Islands having been British colonies since 1672 and 1917 when the southern islands were purchased from Denmark. A referendum in 1963 resulted in a majority in favour of accession to the Union, and on 23 July 1964, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands became the nineteenth dominion of the Empire.
Throughout the 20th and 21st centuries, Puerto Rico has experienced massive industrialisation that has transformed the economy from agriculture-based to manufacturing as well as seen significant growth in the tourism industry. The island is also an important strategic base for the Royal Navy, which maintain a base at Ceiba in the east of the main island. Demographically dominated by people of Hispanic descent, Spanish remains the most spoken language in the country, with 94.37% of adults speaking Spanish as their first language, and religiously 70% of the population are Roman Catholics whilst 25% are Anglican.
The
2017 general election in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands was held on 24 August 2017 to elect, under the mixed member majoritarian system, the 102 members of the Chamber of Representatives, 52 from single member districts and 50 from a nationwide proportional list.
The incumbent coalition government of the centrist
Partido Popular Democrático (PPD) and the centre-left
Partido Nuevo Progresista (PNP) lost their majority in the Chamber, but retained their overall plurality. However, under Puerto Rican constitutional convention the largest party in the Chamber, the moderate centre-right
Unión de Conservadores y Reformistas (UCR) under Jenniffer González formed the next government. The left-wing ecological technocratic
Partido Futuro (PF) gained another list seat but failed to make a breakthrough in any district, whilst the
Liga Solidaridad (LS) lost 2 seats and the
Movimiento Unión Soberanista (MUS) gained a district seat. The two parties represent the right and left-wing Puerto Rican nationalists respectively. The minor
Partido de las Islas Vírgenes (PIV) which campaigns for Virgin Islander autonomy either within Puerto Rico or as a separate territory, held their single seat.
Opinion polls had consistently showed a lead for the PPD over the UCR, as Puerto Ricans favoured the fiscally liberal policies of the PPD and PNP over the “libertarian-lite” espoused by the UCR. However in an unexpected election result the UCR surged to first place in the popular vote and became the largest party in the Chamber, a fact that has been credited to the recent election of Puerto Rican Luis Fortuño as leader of the Imperial Conservatives. Despite lacking a majority without any willing coalition partners, Puerto Rican constitutional convention stipulates that the largest party forms the government, and the country is often described as following a form of “consensus government”, with most legislative measures receiving cross-party support.
In the aftermath of the election, PNP leader Juan Dalmau announced his intention to resign after a successor is elected, and PPD leader Alejandro García is likely facing a leadership recall vote for calling an early election that saw his party lose power after only three years in office.