GOVERNOR Ralph DLG Torres’ State of the Commonwealth Address on Friday “looks, feels, sounds and smells like another campaign event at taxpayers’ expense,” Rep. Tina Sablan said on Tuesday.
During a House session, Sablan, the Democratic Party’s candidate for governor, and her fellow Democrat, Rep. Edwin Propst, criticized the governor’s decision to hold his SOCA at Kensington Hotel.
Sablan noted that the last time the Republican governor delivered his SOCA was four years ago, also right before a general election.
But that time, it was delivered before an official joint session of the Legislature called by the presiding officers of the House and Senate.
Sablan said there was actual coordination between the executive and legislative branches to plan the event, which was held in an accessible, public venue — the multi-purpose center — and open to the public.
Sablan said none of that is taking place this week. There will be no joint session and no coordination between the branches — and it’s going to be held at one of the most expensive hotels on island. Clearly, she added, not everyone is invited.
She said previous governors “were mature enough to stand in front of all legislators — even those who criticized them — to report on the state of the Commonwealth and present their vision and plans for the future. Because they were adults and that’s how democracy works.”
Sablan added, “We’re never going to agree on everything, but we should all still be able to gather cordially in a room to discuss our issues and figure out how we can work together to solve problems.”
“I don’t think we can call whatever is happening on Friday an official ‘State of the Commonwealth Address,’ ” she said. “In light of all these circumstances, and with just two weeks to go before early voting begins — it looks, feels, sounds, and smells like another Torres campaign event at taxpayer expense.”
Purely political
Propst, for his part, said the governor invited the Legislature’s presiding officers and his allies but not the other House members who also represent the people in their respective precincts.
He noted that the governor did not invite the speaker and other House leaders to the signing of the fiscal year 2023 budget law early this month because “we don’t support his leadership.”
But for the SOCA, Propst said, the governor invited the speaker, “so he picks and chooses what he wants you, speaker, to attend,”
Propst said “this is unprecedented, extremely disappointing and purely political.”
However, he added, “I’m okay that I’m not invited because I don’t know if I could sit through and stomach the lies that we will hear” on Friday.
Too much
Republican Rep. Patrick San Nicolas of Tinian defended the governor.
He said “since the beginning, it’s all criticism here…[against] the governor.” But “where was Congressman Propst during all those times when we need[ed]…help?”
He said criticizing the governor “has always been customary here in the House.”
San Nicolas said “instead of criticizing the governor, why don’t you lay out a plan to develop the Commonwealth? … Offer something we need here in the CNMI. It’s already too much. There [are] no offerings…no plans [from] Congressman Propst [for] our economy here. Governor Torres is doing [it] by himself since Typhoon Yutu [and] during the pandemic….”
Tina Sablan
