The New Progressive Party (PNP) will hold its convention in the western region of Puerto Rico from December 4 to 6, announced the party’s secretary general, Jorge Santini, in an interview with Punto X Punto of Metro Puerto Rico. The event will use several towns in the region, among them Mayagüez, Aguadilla, Moca and Isabela, and details will be announced at a press conference, said the former San Juan mayor.
Santini explained the convention could have been held between August and mid-October, but Governor Jenniffer González Colón postponed it because of the drought that affected the island. He recounted telling her not to delay it much, and she replied that water came first. The convention will include the party’s official activities: the assemblies of Progresistas Women, Progresista Youth and Public Servants, plus the general assembly, taking advantage of the proximity of the Christmas season.
The governor usually prefers places with several hotels nearby to boost the local economy, Santini said, adding that several hotels will offer special nightly rates for attendees. The convention will coincide with the close of the party’s reorganization, which Santini has led along with the PNP’s electoral commissioner, Aníbal Vega Borges, with seven or eight municipalities still to be reorganized.
The event comes as the party faces internal differences and the possibility of a primary, which Santini said he would respect while standing with the governor.