Kilili-Fitial spat may have started with request to repeal federalization law

No one would mistake Gov. Benigno R. Fitial and Delegate Gregorio Kilili Sablan (Ind-MP) for best friends. But have you ever wondered how the spat between two of the CNMI’s highest elected officials started?

At least for Sablan, it may have begun when he turned down the governor’s request for him to work on the repeal of the May 2008 law that placed CNMI immigration under federal control, soon after Sablan’s first win in November 2008 as the CNMI’s first delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives.

“The first thing he asked me was to repeal Public Law 110-229. And of course, that is not possible…I told him it’s not possible…I told him it’s not going to happen,” Sablan told Saipan Tribune in an interview over the weekend.

Sablan said the request from the governor came before he was sworn in as delegate.

Fitial was in Washington, D.C. in January 2009 but did not attend Sablan’s inauguration, despite it being a historic moment for the CNMI.

The CNMI was the last U.S. jurisdiction to get congressional representation, albeit a nonvoting member of the U.S. House of Representatives. Through PL 110-229, the CNMI held its first delegate election and its immigration was placed under federal control.

Fitial and the Fitial administration could not be reached for comment.

Sablan said the other issue that may have also “angered” the governor was when he, along with other delegates from other territories, turned down Fitial’s request to give the $44 million in State Fiscal Stabilization Fund under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act directly to the governor, who in turn will give that money to schools.

“I and the other delegates from the other territories said ‘no.’ Those monies were going to the schools directly. But then of course, some money went to the governor—$8 million [under the law]… Because I knew that if the $44 million goes to him, the schools are not going to get it,” he said.

That $8 million was distributed among other programs such as public health and public safety.

The rest is history.

Sablan said that on Veterans Day in November 2011, Fitial asked him to run as delegate for another term under the governor’s Republican Party. That was around the time when the media was taking photos of the governor, the delegate, veterans and other local and visiting dignitaries during the Veterans Day ceremony at American Memorial Park in Garapan.

That was also the same day the governor was quoted as saying “drink milk” to long-time Republicans who didn’t want the party’s new leadership.

Sablan said the first thought that came into his mind when the governor said he wanted to talk to him was schools, food stamps or other pressing issues.

“But what he said was, ‘I want you to be my candidate for delegate. I want you to run under the Republican Party,’” Sablan said. “I just smiled. I didn’t know what to say. Not that I was going to say ‘yes’ but with all these problems and the first thing that came to his mind was politics.”

Sablan said that since then, he understands that Fitial started asking people around to run as delegate under the GOP.

“And I understand his present choice is the fifth or sixth person he has asked,” Sablan said, referring to John Oliver “Bolis” Gonzales, who was nominated by Republicans on Wednesday night to run as delegate.

Gonzales, during the gathering at the governor’s private residence in Gualo Rai, asked for a week to make known his decision, although some party members said that Gonzales is “90 percent” accepting the nomination.

Sablan cited four reasons for not accepting the governor’s offer to run under the Republican Party.

“One, I wouldn’t run under his failed leadership. Two, I caucus with the Democrats in Congress. The Democrats in Congress are good for the Northern Mariana Islands. They are good with domestic programs that benefit the people of the Northern Mariana Islands,” Sablan said.

He cited as an example the Republicans’ proposal to close down the U.S. Department of Education.

“Why? That’s their philosophy. That education should be a state matter. And when we get tens of millions of dollars for school kids here, how can I join him?” Sablan said.

His last reason is that he will continue to run as an independent candidate.

“I ran as an independent since the first race, I remain as an independent. I welcome the endorsement and support of the political parties and other candidates,” he added.

Sablan was recently endorsed by the Covenant Party, whose titular head is now Lt. Gov. Eloy S. Inos.

Sablan and Fitial don’t see eye to eye on a host of issues, including the federalization of immigration and the national food stamp program.