SCC: Lieutenant governor bets will not speak at forum

The Saipan Chamber of Commerce clarified that only those running for governor will be part of the Gubernatorial Forum on Oct. 27 at the Pedro P. Tenorio Multi-Purpose Center in Susupe.

“The Chamber intends to have only the governor candidates present on stage at the Oct. 27 forum. Lieutenant governor candidates will not be included. Lieutenant governor candidates are welcome to attend but will not be seated on stage, nor will they be asked to answer any questions or to participate in the forum. Please accept our apologies for any confusion on this issue,” the Chamber posted on its Facebook page recently.

Chamber executive director Jill Arenovski said the gubernatorial forum has been sold out as early as last week and that all candidates running for governor have signed on to attend the forum.

Gov. Eloy S. Inos and his running mate, Senate President Ralph Torres, will be running under the CNMI Republic Party banner.

The GOP duo will be challenged by former governor Juan N. Babauta and his running mate, former senator Juan Torres; former House speaker Heinz S. Hofschneider and his running mate, former Senate floor leader Ray N. Yumul; and former Commonwealth Ports Authority executive director Edward “Tofila” M. Deleon Guerrero and his running mate, former representative Daniel Quitugua.

The Hofschneider-Yumul and Babauta-Torres tandems are running as independents, while Deleon Guerrero and Quitugua are running under the CNMI Democratic Party.

The Chamber also clarified that like the Senatorial Forum, questions for the Gubernatorial Forums are not set.

“The questions come from the general public and are as diverse as our population. If you attended the recent Senatorial Forum, you may have heard the range of questions was from ‘what would be the first piece of legislation that you would introduce?’ to ‘what is the solution to the Cape Air issue and the transportation to/from Rota and Saipan to Guam?’ No candidates or staff will have access beforehand to those questions. We assure you that our process is fair and equal to all participants. We welcome the participation of each candidate and are most happy that each will voice their positions and opinions in our public forum.”

For those who will be missing out on the Gubernatorial Forum next week, the Chamber said that Flametree TV will videotape the proceedings and will air it afterward.

Proceeds from the senatorial and gubernatorial forums will benefit the Chamber’s Scholarship Fund and the other Chamber programs.

The four-way gubernatorial race on Nov. 4 is expected to be headed for a gubernatorial runoff race if not one of the teams gets at least 50 percent plus 1 of the votes cast during the general elections.

Aside from the Senatorial Forum, the Chamber was supposed to hold a Delegate Forum last week but it got cancelled after both Andrew Salas and Delegate Gregorio Kilili C. Sablan (Ind-MP) begged off from attending. The former flew to Boise, Idaho, to look for his then-missing brother, Joe, while the latter didn’t want to go to a forum with an empty chair beside him. Salas is running as a Democrat, while Sablan is again running as an independent.