She said voters should be given “real options” in next year’s general elections.
“There is undoubtedly a growing discontentment with politics as usual in the CNMI. More and more people are becoming increasingly tired of the misgovernance that is taking a real and tangible toll on the quality of life in our community,” Sablan said.
The lawmaker added that she has been meeting with “a growing number of concerned citizens who want a smaller, more efficient, and more responsive government that prioritizes and actually provides essential public services, not a government that is little more than a badly run employment agency.”
These citizens, she said, “want an end to the ‘who-you-know-not-what-you-know’ system of hiring in government. They want leaders who embrace transparency and accountability, who respect the checks and balances of democratic government, and who understand the importance of carefully drafted laws and policies that are fairly enforced and not subject to constant change.”
Sablan said he has been hearing from people, “young and old, from all walks of life, who tell me they will no longer vote down family or party lines, that their votes cannot be bought with offers of jobs or other favors, and that they are tired of ‘tent-and-table politicians’ who do not have the best interests of all the people in the CNMI at heart. They are frustrated, yes, but the glimmer of hope that I see is that more and more people are beginning to realize that we have nothing to lose and everything to gain by challenging the status quo. And they no longer want to sit around and simply talk about the problems. They now want to be part of a movement for change.”
She said the new political coalition will be a “people’s movement, broad-based and inclusive, regardless of age, race, religion, family, or political affiliation.”
“We are looking for individuals who are willing to help fill the slate, and we are also looking for individuals, community groups, and businesses who are willing to support these candidates by helping to develop a unifying platform and vision, by fundraising and educating the community, and by pushing the goals and objectives of this coalition beyond the election by continually scrutinizing and engaging in dialogue with all public officials year-round,” she added.
Sablan noted that voters are often blamed for electing and reelecting politicians who “represent little more than self-interest, greed and ineptitude.”
“But the simple truth is that voters’ options have been severely limited: they can choose to vote for the same old candidates who represent the same old political parties, recycling the same old promises — or they can choose to not vote at all. Both options have done nothing other than preserve the status quo. Voters have never had the option of choosing a full slate of honest and civic-minded candidates who truly have the public interest at heart, and who aren’t driven by personal gain.”
She believes that the 2009 elections “will be the test of how ready we really are for deeper and more sweeping changes. Much depends on the people who will step up to the plate to join this new coalition and how organized we will be, but much also depends on how people will ultimately vote at the polls. This is an exciting time for the CNMI.”
