“I am appealing to all members of the community who wish to assist in the effort to make the Legislature more transparent,” said Sablan, Ind-Saipan.
Copies of the petition will be available in the public forum on the state of the Legislature today at the multi-purpose center in Susupe.
The petition was submitted yesterday to the Attorney General’s Office.
The same initiative petition was circulated in the community last year, Sablan said.
“Approximately 2,500 signatures were gathered by concerned citizens last summer — not enough to get the initiative on the ballot for last year’s election, but the delegate election this November means that we have an opportunity…to get the initiative on the ballot this year,” she added.
According to Sablan, “The Open Government Act (Public Law 8-41) is one of the most powerful tools we have for holding our government accountable for its actions and for keeping informed about the decisions that our public officials make…with our taxpayer dollars. The Act requires government agencies to conduct their meetings openly, to make public records available for inspection, and to respond to requests for information within 10 days… there are provisions in place to protect whistleblowers and certain personal records.”
It was the 9th Legislature that passed Public Law 9-2 to exempt the legislative branch from the Open Government Act.
Sablan encourages voters who want to sign the petition to visit the 13 Fishermen Memorial area, Monday to Friday, 4:45 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.
According to the CNMI Constitution, the people may enact laws by initiative.
If the petition proposes a general law for the commonwealth, it should be signed by at least 20 percent of the persons qualified to vote in the commonwealth.
Sablan said this year, the required number of signatures is 2,400.
Once the initiative petition is certified by the attorney general, it will be submitted to the voters at the next regular general election.
It will become law if approved by two-thirds of the votes cast.
The CNMI had 14,500 registered voters for the Nov. 2007 elections.
