Even so, Pierluisi’s ascension remained uncertain, as a tense power struggle among leaders of the ruling New Progressive Party, which supports Puerto Rican statehood, threatened to derail his nomination and keep the territory in political turmoil.
Questions about the complicated succession have lingered since last week, when Rosselló announced his imminent exit. He was under fire for his participation in a leaked exchange of rude text messages and faced intense pressure from a mass uprising of Puerto Ricans who were fed up with corruption, a stagnant economy and a poor response to Hurricane Maria in 2017.
A local blogger on Wednesday posted a new set of messages from the same chat, revealing more insults — and a discussion of how to help a Cabinet member who was under investigation.
Pierluisi, 60, was expected to take the oath of office as secretary of state Wednesday, the governor’s office said. Rosselló called a special session of the Legislative Assembly for Thursday, the day before he is scheduled to step down, to confirm the recess appointment.
In a statement, Rosselló said he picked Pierluisi, his former 2016 primary rival, because of his experience as Puerto Rico’s resident commissioner in Washington, and before that as secretary of justice when Rosselló’s father, Pedro Rosselló, was governor in the 1990s.
The governor said that Pierluisi intended to serve through the end of the current term but would not run for reelection as governor in 2020.
“His aspiration is to complete this term, so that the successes we have achieved do not disappear,” Rosselló said. “The electoral process that will begin in the coming months will allow other highly qualified leaders to put their ideas and character to the people’s consideration, as Pierluisi and I did in the last primary.”
Pierluisi said he would be responsive to the hundreds of thousands of Puerto Ricans whose street protests ended Rosselló’s term as governor.
“I have listened to the people’s messages, their demonstrations, their demands and their concerns,” Pierluisi said in a statement accepting the nomination. “And in this new challenge in my life, I will only answer to the people.”
But first, he will have to contend with the powerful Senate president, Thomas Rivera Schatz, who let it be known before the nomination was even official that Pierluisi would not have enough votes to win confirmation.
Under Puerto Rico’s constitution, the secretary of state automatically replaces a governor who leaves office. But the last official to hold the post, Luis Rivera Marín, stepped down over his role in the leaked private group chat on the messaging app Telegram that precipitated the political crisis. His departure created a critical vacancy before Rosselló’s resignation, which becomes effective at 5 p.m. Friday.
It left Wanda Vázquez, the secretary of justice, next in line. But Vázquez made clear that she was not a politician and preferred not to step in as governor. Hundreds of protesters, denouncing Vázquez’s close ties to the disgraced Rosselló, rallied outside the Justice Department on Monday and demanded that she, too, resign.
Behind the scenes, Rosselló, 40, negotiated with legislative leaders to try to find a consensus candidate who could be left in charge of the troubled government until next year’s election. But it was difficult for them to find a candidate who could be confirmed by the Legislative Assembly and be acceptable to the public. Protesters said repeatedly that they were tired of crony politics.
Pierluisi served eight years in Washington as Puerto Rico’s nonvoting resident commissioner in Congress during the Obama administration. Like Rosselló, he is a Democrat when it comes to national politics, although many New Progressives are Republicans.
Pierluisi, a lawyer, could have a conflict of interest because he works for a firm that does external legal consulting for the unelected federal oversight board that oversees Puerto Rico’s finances. On Tuesday, Pierluisi was placed on a leave of absence from the law firm, O’Neill & Borges.
His brother-in-law, José Carrión III, remains the chairman of the federal oversight board. The New York Times found in 2016 that Pierluisi introduced legislation as resident commissioner that would benefit at least two Wall Street companies that had hired his wife, María Elena Carrión, for financial advice. (Pierluisi and his wife are in the process of divorcing, the Puerto Rican news media have reported.)
Pierluisi’s ties to the unpopular oversight board do not sit well with some lawmakers. Several went on television to call his nomination unacceptable.
“No one can question his abilities,” Rep. José Meléndez, a member of the New Progressive party, told WAPA, a local station. “But I saw him in meetings with the board, and he was on the side of the board. That puts him in conflict with government policies. He’d probably have to recuse himself. It’s going to be very difficult for him to govern without access to the fiscal control board.”
Sen. José Antonio Vargas Vidot, a political independent, chided the statehood party for not looking outside of its usual ranks for a nominee. “It’s as if the PNP doesn’t have anyone without a conflict,” he told WAPA.
Yet Gisela Gómez, 45, who sells homemade sweets to tourists in San Juan, the capital, said she participated in the massive march last week to oust the governor and was pleased with Pierluisi’s selection.
“We have to run all of the corrupt ones out and replace it with a new government,” Gómez said. “I don’t know much about politics, but from what I have heard, of all of them out there, he is the best one.”
Juan Pagán, 57, a cabdriver who was standing on a street corner in Old San Juan hoping to pick up cruise ship passengers, said that although he does not vote for the New Progressive Party, he thinks Pierluisi is an acceptable candidate.
“At least he’s the least bad,” Pagán said.
“The party is completely corrupt. History has said that that is the most corrupt party in history,” he added, noting that there were dozens of arrests during the administration of Rosselló’s father.
The choice of Pierluisi suggested that Rosselló remains determined to keep Rivera Schatz, one of his rivals in the party, from succeeding him.
But Rivera Schatz could prove to be an unstoppable foe: If lawmakers block Pierluisi’s confirmation, then his recess appointment would be rejected and he would no longer be secretary of state, said Efrén Rivera Ramos, a law professor at the University of Puerto Rico. That would leave Vázquez as the next governor.
Rivera Schatz is known to dislike Vázquez and to harbor ambitions to run for governor himself next year. And he holds considerable sway within his party; he became its interim leader after Rosselló relinquished the role of president.
But he, too, is considered a divisive figure. The protesters who marched against Rosselló and then Vázquez also chanted to Rivera Schatz: “No te vistas, que no vas” — Don’t get dressed; it’s not going to be you.
In a statement Wednesday, Rivera Schatz said the confirmation process will play out and lawmakers will perform their constitutional duty. But he did not mention Pierluisi by name or refer to his chances at winning the Senate vote — which he indicated might not take place until midafternoon on Friday.
“There is no problem that does not have a solution, and in Puerto Rico we should focus on solutions,” Rivera Schatz said. “We should promote unity, not discord.”
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.