‘GOP call to ignore minority is tantamount to obstruction’

Not entertaining the concerns raised by the minority bloc in the Legislature constitutes obstruction, according to House minority leader Rep. Edwin K. Propst (Ind-Saipan) yesterday.

This was in response to the CNMI Republican Party’s statement that “any suggestion of impeachment of Gov. Ralph DLG Torres is simply political maneuvering” and that it “stands firm in its position that any petty attempt at further action by the minority will not be entertained.”

“I was very disappointed with the fact that one of the statements in the press release was that the minority would be basically ignored, that anything, any concerns or anything that we brought up, that the GOP would basically not entertain. That in of itself is obstruction. They cannot say that,” Propst said.

“Whether we are in the minority, or in the majority, we all got fairly elected to represent our people. We all have a voice and every one of us has a seat at the table. For the GOP to deny us that is extremely, extremely insulting. Not so much to us, but to the people who actually support us and actually care about transparency, accountability, and integrity in office,” Propst added.

In December last year, the House minority bloc asked House Speaker Blas Jonathan Attao (R-Saipan) to form a special committee to investigate allegations of public corruption, fraud, waste, and abuse of public funds by Gov. Ralph DLG Torres. They also made an Open Government Act request with the Department of Finance for access to records on the governor’s travels and requests for reimbursements, among others.

“It is, of course, sad right now that we are having to investigate what is going on right now, but it is part of our duties and responsibilities as legislators. The public expects us to do this. We can’t just ignore what has been given to us,” said Propst yesterday.

He said the minority lawmakers have all been patient as far as their OGA request is concerned. “Finance has asked for an extension to get all of these records, which is quite voluminous, it’s huge. We have given that, we haven’t argued against that, because we do know that it’s a lot for us to all look into, just as it is for the Department of Finance to gather.”

Acknowledging that such an investigation could take time, Propst wants to assure the public that the minority, as a team, is ready to do whatever it takes to ensure that everything will be covered in the investigation.