SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico _ Pedro Pierluisi, the man who was appointed Puerto Rico's governor last week amid unprecedented political turmoil, will have to step down, the island's Supreme Court ruled Wednesday.
In a unanimous ruling, the high court said that the 2005 law that outgoing governor, Ricardo Rossello, used to put Pierluisi in power was unconstitutional. The ruling likely means that Secretary of Justice Wanda Vazquez will take the island's top job _ even though she has said she didn't want the position.
Pierluisi, 60, was appointed secretary of state, Puerto Rico's second in command, last week just days before Rossello stepped down on Friday. But the island's Senate hadn't ratified Pierluisi in his Cabinet position before he assumed the governor's post.
Under Puerto Rico's constitution, both chambers needed to approve his role as secretary of state.
Rossello stepped down last week amid a burgeoning corruption scandal and mass protests that erupted after it was revealed that he used misogynistic and homophobic language in a private chat group with 11 of his advisers and confidants.
Wednesday's ruling is just the latest twist for the U.S. territory of 3.2 million that's struggling to find its feet amid a debt crisis and as it's still recovering from a devastating 2017 hurricane season.
The legal dispute hinged on the language of an obscure 2005 amendment to Puerto Rico's law of succession passed in 1952, that partly suggested that a secretary of state did not need the consent of the island's legislature to be sworn in as governor.
What it does not clearly answer is if a secretary of state named while the legislature is not in session _ as in Pierluisi's case _ can he or she fully take over the duties of a governor after a permanent vacancy?
The legal interpretations have also led some experts to question the motivations behind the drafting of the 2005 amendment, which was authored by Rep. Jenniffer Gonzalez, the island's non-voting representative in U.S. Congress. At the time, she was serving as president of the island's House of Representatives in a legislature controlled by the pro-statehood New Progressive Party.
The governor then, Anibal Acevedo Vila, belonged to the main opposition Popular Democratic Party, PPD, which supports the island's current territorial status.
"It was really irresponsible management by the legislature ... to try to change the text of the Constitution, something that is impossible to do if you're going to respect it," said Angel Rosa, professor of political science at the University of Puerto Rico and former senator for the PPD.
Rosa said he didn't know of the existence of the amendment until it was discussed last week, when Puerto Ricans were still in the dark about who would be Rossello's successor.
Pierluisi's attorneys argued that his swearing-in was legitimate because he was rightfully appointed during legislative recess by Rossello. Anything to the contrary would "constitute an impermissible usurpation of the executive power," according to his legal argument filed to the court.
Senate President Thomas Rivera Schatz, who filed the suit, says the law was incorrectly interpreted, and Pierluisi's actions "usurped the prerogatives of advice and consent of the Senate of Puerto Rico," court documents show.
When asked about the law that Pierluisi's legal team has leaned on to remain in power, Gonzalez dismissed that it intended to allow for a Secretary of State to be sworn in as governor without the consent of the two chambers.
