By Emmanuel T. Erediano
Variety News Staff

A REPUBLICAN who has submitted a letter of intent to run for the House of Representatives is urging the GOP board of directors and precinct club leaders to require other aspirants to come up with their own agendas or platforms.
Commonwealth Ports Authority board member Barbara A. Yamada said GOP candidates should submit a comprehensive agenda or platform detailing how they will address the issues facing the commonwealth.
Yamada and Sylvestre Iguel were nominated at the Precinct 4 club meeting held in January that the GOP board later described as invalid.
Two other candidates who are seeking the party’s nomination are Joe Camacho and incumbent Precinct 4 Republican Rep. Candido B. Taman.
In her letter to GOP officials and precinct leaders, Yamada said the issues and challenges the CNMI is facing now have prompted her to seek public office as a Republican Party candidate.
These challenges, she said, “have reached crisis-proportions.”
She said the Legislature and the executive branch appear unable to resolve the issues.
She said, “the people have become victims of poor leadership and unfair policy decisions.”
She noted the “apparent lack of leadership, the inability to perform, and the application of unjust and unfair policy decisions.”
Yamada said her interest is in economic issues, particularly the power rate, local employment, minimum wage, education, federal relations, medical referrals and women in public offices.
She expressed the hope that the other GOP aspirants will be required to submit “a written comprehensive agenda or platform that will address not only general issues but also precinct issues, and suggest solutions.”
Luis Q. Kapileo, the chairman of the Precinct 4 club that the GOP board has refused to recognize, expressed confidence that the Republican Party is getting stronger.
He said the GOP is likely to win more legislative seats in November not because of “the strategy the party’s leadership will undertake,” but because the people have lost confidence in the ruling Covenant Party.
He said that whatever differences exist between his group and the GOP board, this does not make them “outcasts.”
“We are Republicans and will remain loyal to the party,” he said.
GOP secretary Kimo M. Rosario said Kapileo and his group are Republicans.
Rosario said he is encouraging them to help the party by attending meetings held by the newly elected precinct club officers.