Democratic Party chair Quitugua retires

Democratic Party chair Daniel Quitugua seaks at a press conference yesterday. (KIMBERLY B. ESMORES)

Democratic Party chair Daniel Quitugua has decided to retire from his post after 52 years with the party and on the heels of the loss of the party’s gubernatorial candidates in this year’s general election.

Speaking at a press conference yesterday, Quitugua told media partner that he has made up his mind about retiring from the Democratic Party to focus on issues that would make a difference for the CNMI.

“I just made my decision public with respect to retiring from being a member of the Democratic Party. I have been with a Democrat for about 52 years. Some may speculate that my reason for retiring was the defeat of the Democrats, and to some extent, yes. When you sit down and look at the situation, after devoting so many years [with the party] and trying to make a difference in the CNMI, and the people of the Commonwealth decided otherwise, you have to sit down and analyze where you’re at and what you want to do next,” he said.

Quitugua said he sacrificed one his passions, which is his advocacy for those of Northern Marianas descent, for years due to his involvement with the Democratic Party. Now, he feels it is time to return to his passion.

“I just felt that I have contributed my energy, my concentration to the party and in a way, I sacrificed one of my passions, which is my advocacy for those of Northern Marianas descent. So I decided that my involvement in the Democratic Party should come to an end, and I will begin my effort in revitalizing my advocacy with respect to Northern Marianas descent,” Quitugua said.

Quitugua said he feels it would be more beneficial to his advocacy if he is not associated with any political party.

“I want to try and see if I can recommend to whoever is the next governor to make NMDs a priority so that we can protect the interests of the NMDs over their trust (Marianas Public Land Trust). So, my attempt here is to seek leadership, political leaders, who can take the issue of Northern Marianas descent a priority and protect those assets that we have,” he said.

Quitugua said he hopes to work with the next administration in advocating for NMDs in regard to their trust and to advocate for the use of public land for economic activity.

“We need to be very careful because right now, the program that the government has with respect to homesteading, it is now becoming quite clear that there won’t be enough public land available to support the homesteading program. So I think that’s going to be a reality pretty soon. So whoever is the next governor, I’d like to sit down with him and have a serious discussion as to how we can better help our NMDs,” he said.