Maya hangs tough as criticisms mount

Embattled acting Attorney General Maya B. Kara yesterday shrugged off allegations of incompetence, saying she would not step down despite mounting pressure from the Senate to remove her from office.

But most senators are expected anew to lobby against her appointment in a meeting today with Gov. Pedro P. Tenorio, which may decide the fate of Kara whose nomination to the AG post had been bypassed twice following clear Senate rejection.

The situation appears headed into major conflict as Kara vowed to stay on, but said she would resign only if the local chief executive asks her to leave.

“I’m willing to step aside. I serve at the governor’s pleasure and if and when the governor wants me to go, I will step aside,” the acting AG said in an interview.

According to Kara, she has discussed the problem with Tenorio who “expressed total confidence in trusting me and he wants me to continue to serve, so I will serve.”

A House legal counsel for almost 10 years, Kara was named the chief government lawyer last July when the CNMI was in the midst of negotiating a settlement on the multimillion dollar tourism promotion contract between the defunct Marianas Visitors Bureau and Japanese advertising firm I&S Corp.

The deal, highly opposed by some lawmakers questioning the contract’s legal status, prompted a Senate investigation that accused Kara of influencing its outcome because her husband works in a law firm representing I&S.

While Tenorio had agreed to recall her nomination due the expected rejection, he has repeatedly appointed Kara as acting AG despite intense lobbying by senators.

Senate Vice President Thomas P. Villagomez, one of Kara’s most vocal critics, said he would raise the issue again when they meet with the governor to discuss various island issues.

“I believe she cannot handle the job. My position still remains — that I will not support her if there’s going to be a re-submission of her appointment,” he said in an interview.

Senate Floor leader Pete P. Reyes, who initiated the oversight on the I&S deal, underscored the need to appoint another lawyer in the top AG post, saying government service is at stake in the absence of a good leader.

“We need to fill that position quickly because with the bickering and in-house fight that exist in the AGO, that seems to suggest a problem consistent with lack of leadership quality,” he said.

Both senators have slammed Kara again over the use of government funds to bring in a potential AG applicant from Seattle to Saipan amid deepening financial crisis in the commonwealth.

Although she has justified her action as a matter of government interest, Kara remains visibly affected by charges leveled against her and has expressed disappointment despite her past working relationship with legislators.

“I’m still trying to defend the Constitution and I’m still trying to make sure that laws are properly made and enforced,” she said. “It’s just that I’m doing this in a different perspective and I hope they understand that.”

Kara maintained the pressure has not been good for the AGO. “But as for me, as what Harry Truman once said ‘if you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen,’ I’m not ready to get out of the kitchen.”