Gov. Benigno R. Fitial of the Covenant Party said yesterday it will be “very risky” for the CNMI to vote for a governor without proven leadership, especially in these challenging times amid federalization and economic recovery concerns. House Speaker Arnold I. Palacios, who is the running mate of gubernatorial candidate Rep. Heinz S. Hofschneider of the Republican Party, says “change is inevitable.”
The four-way gubernatorial race will be held this Saturday.
Besides Fitial and Hofschneider, the other two gubernatorial candidates are Independents Juan “Pan” Guerrero, and former senator Ramon “Kumoi” Deleon Guerrero.
Members of the Republican Party, during their final rally over the weekend, criticized Fitial and some alleged empty campaign promises.
Fitial, when interviewed yesterday, said he welcomes political attacks, being the incumbent governor and a candidate, but said he is “very concerned about the leadership of the CNMI in the next four years.”
“Right now, for the CNMI to be successful, we must have continuity in leadership and stability. Any ordinary person who understands government would have no problem making that determination material to select the candidates with proven experience, proven leadership. It is very risky now for the CNMI to take an untested and unproven leadership. Why? Because of the very challenging issues that the CNMI is facing today,” he told reporters.
In an interview right after signing a proclamation declaring November Education Month, Fitial said he hopes “those people who attack are doing it for the good of the people instead of their own good.”
Palacios (R-Saipan), when asked for comment on Fitial's statement about the need for a proven and stable leadership, said those were only the governor's “opinion.”
“Change is inevitable and we took a risk four years ago; the people did take a risk. Every incumbent governor can talk about continuity of leadership but the people are the ultimate judge of that,” Palacios said in a phone interview.
High voter turnout
Fitial expects a high turnout on Saturday for the gubernatorial elections, with some 16,100 registered voters.
“I think because of the fact that there are four candidates, the enthusiasm of voters will be very, very high. perhaps the greatest turnout ever in the history of the CNMI,” he said.
A runoff between the two top vote getters, however, is possible, given the four-way gubernatorial race.
Palacios said the Republican Party is “hopeful” that all their hard work will pay off.
“We will try our best,” he added.
Another challenge
On Friday, the CNMI government filed a supplemental memorandum supporting its motion for a preliminary injunction against federalization by citing the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s publication of its interim final rule.
Fitial also asked his lawyers to challenge a violation of the Administrative Procedures Act because DHS published its “interim final rule” on the CNMI transitional worker program, allegedly without complying with the notice and comment provisions of the APA.
“The department had nearly 18 months to prepare these regulations,” said Fitial.
Yesterday, Fitial said the papers challenging a violation of the APA will be filed Monday in Washington, D.C. (Tuesday Saipan time).
“I will see to it that our labor, and our local economy, our local self-government will be upheld because you can't find anywhere in the Covenant, or our agreement with the United States, that says the federal government will micromanage the CNMI separate (or different) from the other states and territories of the United States,” he told reporters.
He said he hopes he will “prevail” in the lawsuit he filed against the U.S. government over federalization of CNMI.
'Separate labor from immigration'
Fitial said he has no qualms with the federal government securing CNMI borders, saying the Commonwealth do not have the capability to protect its borders.
“That's given, that's already memorialized,” he said.
When asked how he thinks the federal government can separate labor from immigration control, he said: “Very easy. Let them screen the people we are trying to bring in and if they find that certain individuals are undesirable and should be excludable, then we respect that. But if they are not, then they should allow us to process them pursuant to our local labor law. What's so difficult about that? As a matter of fact, we enforce our local law better.”
Fitial also cited his administration's accomplishment of clearing a backlog of more than 4,000 labor cases.
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