Puerto Ricans await decision over governor

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Puerto Rico’s Supreme Court on Monday agreed to rule on a lawsuit that the island’s Senate filed in a bid to oust a veteran politician recently sworn in as the island’s governor.

The court gave all parties until Tuesday at noon to file all necessary paperwork, noting that no extensions will be awarded.

The lawsuit seeks a preliminary injunction ordering Pedro Pierluisi to cease his functions immediately and also asks that the court declare unconstitutional a 2005 law that states a secretary of state does not have to be approved by both House and Senate if he or she has to step in as governor.

“We are a people of LAW and ORDER,” Senate President Thomas Rivera Schatz wrote in a Facebook post. “There is no circumstance that places someone above the Law.”

It is unclear how quickly the Supreme Court might rule or whether it would hold a hearing or simply issue a written opinion. The announcement comes as Puerto Ricans who ousted the previous governor from office following nearly two weeks of protests await yet another twist in what is a deepening constitutional crisis.

Constitutional attorney Carlos Ramos told The Associated Press that the island’s Supreme Court rarely holds hearings and that at least five of the nine judges have to agree in order to declare a law unconstitutional.

There is no deadline for the court to issue a ruling, and it cannot be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court because the issue deals strictly with Puerto Rico’s constitutional law, he said.

If the court finds in favor of the Senate, Justice Secretary Wanda Vázquez will become governor, Ramos said, adding that it’s unclear whether Pierluisi could remain as secretary of state.