By Emmanuel T. Erediano
Variety News Staff

REPRESENTATIVE Candido B. Taman yesterday doubted the legality of the GOP Precinct 4 “club meeting” that did not include him on the Republican slate for the November elections.
The meeting held on Jan. 4 nominated Sylvestre Iguel and Barbara Yamada to be the Republican Precinct 4 candidates for the House of Representatives.
But according to Taman, GOP Chairman Thomas B. Pangelinan “informed me and the other potential candidates to wait until his return, approximately two weeks later.”
Pangelinan was “away to attend some family matters abroad.”
Taman, R-Saipan, said “certain members” of the Tanapag community organized the Jan. 4 meeting.
“I’m not an official of the CNMI Republican Party. I leave that decision to the Republican Party. I am an elected representative of Precinct 4 and I have an obligation to deliver much needed public services to my constituents in Precinct 4 as well as to the rest of the commonwealth,” he said.
According to Taman, his party is now “in the process of reforming the organization at the precinct level.”
He added, “What we want to do is to make certain that we do the right thing by having everyone equally represented.”
A freshman lawmaker, Taman was among only seven Republican House candidates who won in 2005 on Saipan, which has 16 representatives.