CNMI consolidates position for 902 talks

Gov. Pedro P. Tenorio yesterday convened the CNMI Section 902 panel to firm up the position of the Northern Marianas in next month’s resumption of the stalled bilateral talks with the US that is expected to include discussion on economic aid for the commonwealth.

Edward Cohen, President Bill Clinton’s special representative to the consultations, will arrive on Saipan on January 18 to begin talks, which had been postponed twice due to disagreement over the scope of discussion and the filing of a White House-sponsored legislation seeking to take away local control of labor and immigration.

According to the governor, the local panel, led by Lt. Gov. Jesus R. Sablan, is finalizing the issues CNMI will raise during the meeting.

The government previously suggested that talks on immigration, minimum wage and customs associated with the local garment industry be expanded to include waiver of the dollar-for-dollar match for Capital Improvement Projects, military land use, sovereignty over submerged lands, the 200-mile exclusive economic zone and the non-voting delegate status in the US Congress.

However, there is a growing consensus among local officials to include Section 701 of the Covenant, which calls for the federal government to assist the commonwealth in alleviating the standard of living here, in light of the worsening condition of the island economy.

The other day Sablan said, “The decline of the economy here necessitates federal assistance since we have been subjected to the Asian economic problems.”

But in an interview yesterday, Sablan was tight-lipped on the issues the local panel will bring up with Cohen. “It would be premature to say the agenda. We will discuss that during the meeting,” he said.

He also declined to provide reporters with copies of Cohen’s correspondence until he responds to the letter.

According to Sablan, consultations would be informal to afford both governments flexibility in discussing “issues of mutual concerns.” He refused to elaborate.

Senate President Paul A. Manglona and House speaker Diego T. Benavente said in separate interviews the panel is fine-tuning a position paper it has previously drafted to make sure that the scheduled talks would be “productive and informative.”

Benavente said the talks would provide the Northern Marianas a new avenue to work closely with the federal government in resolving problems which have been straining ties between Saipan and Washington, the commonwealth’s main economic provider.

Washington has been pushing to extend US laws on minimum wage and immigration in CNMI because of discontent over the handling of such commonwealth functions by local officials.

A proposal seeking to strip the Northern Marianas of control over immigration and labor is pending in the US Congress.