By Zaldy Dandan
Variety Editor

“If the elections were held today, the GOP could pick up 10 House seats on Saipan.”
— Variations, Aug. 31, 2007
DID the people vote for change on Saturday? In a way, yes. They wanted to see a change in the House leadership. On Saipan, which will now have 18 of the 20 House seats, only two or three Covenant representatives will survive the tabulation of the absentee ballots next week. The wipeout was crystal clear in the two vote-rich precincts of the island, 1 and 3, where the GOP bagged nine of the 12 seats. Two went to Independents — one of whom, David Apatang, will be aligned with the new Republican leadership -- and only one will go to either of the two incumbent Covenant members of Precinct 3, both of whom should thank former Vice Speaker Jess Attao for not joining the GOP slate and thus ensuring a Republican sweep in the precinct that clinched victory for the Better Times ticket two years ago.
The people’s ire was also evident in Precinct 2, a Covenant bailiwick. Not only did the GOP senatorial bet win there — he finished third there in 2003 and fourth in 2005 — Speaker Babauta, the co-founder of the Covenant Party, is barely holding onto the second spot, a mere six votes away from GOP’s Brown Tenorio with 65 absentee ballots yet to be counted. In 2005, O.B. already had 575 votes, in 2003, 490, even before the arrival of the absentee ballots. On Saturday he got only 362, and it was his party mate, first time candidate Ray Palacios, who finished first with 364. Starting in 1993, winning in Precinct 2 was a walk in the park for the affable O.B. Now he might lose.
The election results were a repudiation of the ruling party and what it has done in the past two years. Not even its non-Covenant allies were spared. Democrat Justo Quitugua, who topped the Precinct 4 race in 2005 with 1,283 votes, absentee ballots not yet included, finished second on Saturday with 592. Former Republican Martin Ada, who received 2,043 in Precinct 1 on Election Day 2005, this time could only get 214 in Precinct 5.
Carving a new precinct out of District 1 certainly didn’t help Borja and my friend Cinta Kaipat, who got 1,755 votes in 2005 but only 865 on Saturday, but it was their affiliation with the ruling party that torpedoed their re-election chances. In Cinta’s case, taking on JG Sablan didn’t help either.
The GOP will run the 16th House, and Arnold Palacios will be the new speaker. The governor, who knows his political math, will try to cobble together another coalition (of the bought) as in 2000, but this is a more solid Republican bloc. It has been out in the cold for quite some time now, and it smells blood. The Republicans know that if they just stick together, the grand prize will be easy picking in 2009.
The administration has already entered its lame-duck phase.
The 16th Senate, as I said a week ago, will remain, more or less, pliable to the governor’s wishes — Rota and Tinian will try to get whatever goodies can still be had from this administration. The new House leadership will, of course, profess willingness to work with the governor, but it will draw the line and will be only too glad to watch the chief executive twist in the wind in the next two years — like what then-Speaker Fitial did to the then-GOP governor after the 2003 elections.
No, I don’t think the people voted for real change. They voted against the ruling party. Even the “new” faces that will serve in the 16th Legislature are from well-known political families. Most of them made the same promises their relatives made in the past.
The only real candidate for change was Tina Sablan who didn’t have posters, stickers or campaign ads and who spoke candidly about her positions on controversial issues that the other candidates wouldn’t touch with a 10-foot pole. Yet she finished 6th in a field of 15 in a precinct dominated by the formidable GOP machinery. Those who voted for her did so out of conviction, and not because of any hopes of getting the usual favors dished out by the usual politicians.
Her candidacy shows that those who want real change can reach out to voters, connect with them and make real change possible.
It’s a start.

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