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Former GOP president: I’ve already quit politics
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Posted on Jul 24 2011
Former CNMI Republican Party president Juan I. Tenorio distanced himself from accusations made by GOP member Rep. Ramon Tebuteb (R-Saipan) that the party’s July 8 general membership and election was a “hostile takeover under the guise of a merger or transition.”
“I quit politics. If he’s not satisfied [with the election] he can write to the new chairman,” Tenorio said in an interview with the Saipan Tribune.
Now that he’s retired from the local GOP and politics, Tenorio said he will have time to concentrate on the Saipan Little League Baseball Association, where he was recently elected president.
“Publicly I came out and said I’m quitting politics. If they have arguments, they should respect the new leadership and contact the new chairman,” said Tenorio.
Tebuteb last week wrote to Tenorio, saying he does not recognize newly elected CNMI GOP president Juan N. Babauta. He also labeled as “unofficial” the general membership meeting and subsequent election held on July 8 at the Garapan Central Park.
The Precinct 1 lawmaker alleged that existing Republican Party bylaws and policies were blatantly disregarded during the “unofficial and out of order” GOP meeting.
Babauta was elected the Republican Party of the NMI’s president at the membership meeting that also saw the acceptance of 1,077 new and returning members, mostly former Covenant Party members.
Besides Babauta, the others who were elected as board members were Division of Fish and Wildlife’s Richard Seman, Ramon “Ray” Salas, Commonwealth Ports Authority executive director Edward Deleon Guerrero, and Coastal Resources Management director Rita Chong.
The members also re-elected Roman “Bo” Palacios Jr. as national committeeman, and elected Viola Alepuyo as national committeewoman. Alepuyo is a Commonwealth Public Utilities Commission board member and Retirement Fund counsel. Alepuyo’s term won’t start until September 2012, though, as MaryLou Ada is still the national committeewoman.
