The governor said everyone has their own opinions, “so let them speak their minds. I have my own mind but I will never address them.”
Loyal party members, including House Minority Leader Joseph P. Deleon Guerrero. said Fitial’s rejoining the GOP was not good for local Republicans.
Fitial said he has been meeting with local Republicans every week.
Asked about the members of the Covenant Party who refused to follow him to the GOP, the governor said: “I don’t tell people what to do and especially, I never force people to do what they don’t want to do. So if they don’t want to be with me, I respect that. So my prayers go to them.”
Among these Covenant members is Lt. Gov. Eloy S. Inos.
Fitial said as part of the GOP tradition, he was congratulated by a lot of Republican National Committee members and officers when he was elected CNMI party president.
“It is a standard that when someone becomes the state chairman of the party of course they contact you, they congratulate you and they give you all the necessary documentation,” he said.
He said the wonderful thing about being a Republican now is that Republicans in the U.S. are becoming stronger “so you have better relationships and now that relationship translates into a tangible advantage for the commonwealth.”
