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Ex-governor unleashes diatribe
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Posted on Mar 24 1999
Calling the Legislature anti-business, former governor Froilan C. Tenorio yesterday said CNMI lawmakers should resign for failing to assist the private sector in dealing with the economic slump.
“They don’t have business staying in the Legislature. They should resign and not consider running again,” Tenorio said in an interview. “The public is paying their salaries but they are not doing anything to alleviate the situation.”
According to the former CNMI leader, a number of measures passed by the Legislature have made it more difficult for businessmen to cope with the worsening economic condition in the Northern Marianas.
The mandatory exit of non-residents from the islands after three consecutive years of work, the indefinite ban on hiring and the continued implementation of the $100,000 security deposit requirement to investors are legislations which he said make the Commonwealth unfriendly to businessmen.
Members of the business community frown at these laws they described as restrictive, impractical and costly.
“Neither the Republicans nor the Democrats fully understands the severity of the problems we have here. They don’t understand the urgency of bringing in the needed investments to stir the local economy,” Tenorio said.
Relying alone on local capital, he explained, is not enough to help the island economy improve. “We can’t survive with just local businesses because their capital is limited. We need to attract foreign investors particularly from Guam and the US mainland. And this is something these legislators don’t realize.”
The ex-governor is presently organizing the Reform Party which he will use to launch a political comeback after his defeat in the 1997 gubernatorial elections to incumbent Gov. Pedro P. Tenorio, a Republican.
At this early, Tenorio has disclosed plans to run for governorship under the new party in the 2001 general elections.
He also plans to field candidates for the midterm elections in November.
