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Minority bloc to follow status quo
The minority bloc of the House of Representatives will be following the status quo in the incoming 20th Legislature and would wait for the leadership to decide on the composition of the nine committees.
The local GOP enjoys a super majority after gaining 15 of the 20 seats at stake during the Nov. 8 general elections. House Speaker Rafael S. Demapan (R-Saipan) will lead the 20th Legislature after mustering eight votes, including his own vote to secure the post.
Demapan said the speaker has the prerogative in appointing committee chair and its members. “But pretty much each member will have their own share of committee.”
Rep. Blas Jonathan T. Attao (Ind-Saipan) said that filling the committee chair positions is the only thing that needs to be settled.
“The two groups sat down and formulated the leadership. We now know the composition of the House leadership after they settled among them. The leadership will now settle the committee chairmanships and the members,” said Attao.
Rep. Vinson F. Sablan (Ind-Saipan), another minority bloc member, said they expect some of the committees to be split into two in order to evenly divide the chairmanships and its members. “It will be interesting to see the breakdown of the committees and what type comes forth. They are going to split some to accommodate most of them if nor all of them.”
Sablan said that he would do his part to help the 20th Legislature even though he won’t become a member of any of the nine committees.
Rep. Edmund S. Villagomez (Ind-Saipan), the incoming minority leader, also shared Sablan’s comments on the leadership splitting the committees. “It is still too early to tell but with the super majority, I’m sure they are going to split some of the committees. …At the end of the day it’s the leadership’s call.
