FORMER Gov. Froilan C. Tenorio and the CNMI Reform Party are returning to the Democratic Party.
Tenorio, in an interview yesterday with Variety, said he and key officers and members of the CNMI Reform Party, including his running mate in the 2001 elections, Dave C. Sablan, had decided to rejoin the Democrats.
He said the CNMI Reform Party was formally dissolved following a meeting of its officers and board members.
The Attorney General’s Office, the Election Commission and the Office of the Public Auditor have been notified of the Reform Party’s dissolution, Tenorio said.
“I want to make it clear that we are doing this voluntarily. We did it on our own—there were no negotiations whatsoever. We are going back to the Democratic Party,” Tenorio said.
Since the November elections, Democratic Party Chairman Lorenzo LG. Cabrera said they had been extending a “hand of reconciliation” to their former members, and even to those from the other parties.
“On behalf of the party I would welcome such gesture from the former governor. Everybody is welcome. His encouragement for all his supporters to join us is equally welcome,” Cabrera said.
Tenorio said he was waiting for a meeting to formalize his return to his old party.
Cabrera said with former Democratic Party members rejoining them, the party is heading toward a “strong partnership with big plans” for the commonwealth.
A more “solid and unified” Democratic Party will field its own candidates in the 2003 midterm elections, he said.
Democrats will also continue to be the “social advocates” for the community, ensuring that the government performs based on established laws, rules and procedures, Cabrera said.
The government must exist for the betterment of its people, he added.
“This is the reason why the Democratic Party here and in the United States are pushing for the creation and development of social programs that will benefit the people,” Cabrera said.
The leaders of the local Democratic Party are scheduled to meet next week, he said.
“One of the things we will discuss is the opening of a full-time Democratic Party office,” Cabrera said.
The office will be manned by a full time staff and several volunteers. Its primary function is to ensure that members of the party will have an office they can visit to discuss their concerns, Cabrera said.
The party will also strengthen its precinct clubs in the community, he added.
Cabrera said they are constantly in touch with the Young Democrats Association “whose membership is now growing and is well represented on the party’s central executive committee.”
Tenorio said he will give his 100 percent support to the Democratic Party.
Tenorio admitted that it is “hard” for the Democrats and the Reform Party to win elections if they remain divided.
“The results of the last elections made that very clear to us,” he said.
Tenorio, who was governor from 1994 to 1998, announced his retirement from politics early this year. When asked yesterday if he would seek public office again, he said: “If they want me back then all options are open.”
Of the seven CNMI gubernatorial elections held since 1977, the Democrats had won only two.
The last time the Democrats won a majority of the seats in the House of Representatives was in 1991. They have never won a majority in the Senate. In the 13th Legislature, there is only one Democrat in the 18-seat House and three in the nine-seat Senate. All are from Tinian.
The Democrats first split in 1981 and fielded two gubernatorial tickets which both lost by a landslide.
In 1997, Tenorio was the party’s nominee but his lt. governor, Jesus C. Borja, ran as an independent. The two lost to the GOP ticket.
In 1999, Tenorio bolted the Democratic Party and founded the CNMI Reform Party with a former Republican, Ramon S. Guerrero.
In that year’s midterm elections, Guerrero was elected senator. In 2001, however, he supported the Covenant Party’s gubernatorial ticket and later announced that he had joined the American Reform Party.
Tenorio was the CNMI Reform Party’s standard bearer in last year’s four-way elections, while the Democrats supported Borja.
Tenorio finished last with around 12 percent of the votes, while Borja ended in third place, garnering around 18 percent of the total.
As the winning team in the 1993 elections, the two garnered more than 54 percent of the votes.
