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Yumul: I’m ready to resign
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Posted on May 30 2008
Rep. Ray N. Yumul says he is ready to resign if he gets the GOP nomination for delegate.
According to Yumul, lawmakers running for the new Washington position should resign not only to follow the law, but also to minimize election costs to the commonwealth.
The CNMI Constitution requires elected officials to resign once they have been certified as official candidates for another position whose term begins before the end of their current term. The Constitution also requires a special election to replace a vacancy in the Legislature if more than one half of the term remains.
Rep. Ray N. Yumul and Sen. Luis P. Crisostimo have expressed their interest to run for delegate. Both just won fresh terms in the 2007 midterm election. Yumul has more than one year left of his two-year term, and Crisostimo has more than three years remaining.
Crisostimo has said he would only resign if he won the congressional election. But Yumul said in an interview that Crisostimo’s plan would be impractical, in addition to being potentially illegal.
“Why put the Commonwealth through the financial burden of holding another election to fill your vacancy? I hope other political aspirants will take that into consideration. Let’s be reasonable,” said Yumul.
He said government lawyers are still studying whether sitting officials should resign in order to run for delegate. He said the constitutional provision was passed in the context of “midterm” senators running for another office such as governor or lieutenant governor. It is not clear how the constitutional requirement will apply to local officials campaigning for a federal position.
Six candidates have announced their bid for the delegate position: Yumul, Crisostimo, Commonwealth Election Commission executive director Gregorio “Kilili” Sablan, attorney Victorino Torres, retired Judge Juan T. Lizama, and Resident Rep. Pete A. Tenorio.
Yumul, Torres, and Tenorio are expected to face off in the NMI Republican Party’s primary, tentatively scheduled for July 12, 2008.
The election for the delegate position will take place on Nov. 4, 2008.
The official period for submitting candidacy papers is from July 7 to August 6, 2008.
