RETIRED Judge Juan Tudela Lizama, who is running for attorney general, wants to be “the people’s AG.”
Lizama is running against Attorney General Edward Manibusan who is seeking a third term in office.
The CNMI’s first elected AG, Manibusan defeated attorney Michael Evangelista in 2014 and ran unopposed in 2018. Manibusan was the presiding judge when Lizama was an associate judge in Superior Court.
In an interview on Friday, Lizama, who was member of the Second Constitutional Convention in 1985, said members of the community convinced him to run for AG.
His supporters circulated a petition and they showed him the result. Lizama said he decided to “do it.”
“I want to be the people’s AG,” he added. A public administrator in the Trust Territory government for six years, Lizama said, “It is important to understand that the people’s AG will prosecute people who broke the law.”
At the same time, he said, the people’s AG “must have a sense of urgency in anything that comes to you because you represent the people. If a citizen has problem with a government department, for example, the people’s AG should look into that. And I’m not going to say I’d look into it and then forget it, because that is not me.”
Lizama said there is “a lot of concern” among the people regarding the CNMI government.
“I’d like to see our government become more transparent. I want to see our government be more cooperative. Because the AG’s client is the government of the people,” Lizama said. “I’m not trying to compare myself to the present AG, but maybe we just have different personalities.”
He said the AG should also work closely with the Legislature, the governor and the U.S. delegate.
“I feel that I’m good at that,” Lizama said. “I think I can work with everyone.”
He said he has worked with lawmakers as an attorney when he lobbied for, among other things, proposed amendments to the banking law. Lizama also served as chairman of the Northern Marianas College board of regents for three years.
If elected AG, he said he would be “constantly focused on the daily issues.”
“The daily issues are very important,” he added. “Every day there are consumer concerns and consumer rights being violated. Have we focused on consumer rights? Employment rights? Equal employment opportunity? Have we been focused on all that?”
He said, “When there is consumer concern, you’ve got to do something about it.”
He said the issues people bring to the AG are important so “you’ve got to be involved in addressing those issues.”
Paying attention to details is very critical, he added.
“You’ve got to be well-rounded. To me, at my age and with my experience, I feel this is probably a good time in my life to be a public servant. I know it is a challenge but it is doable,” Lizama said.
Retired Judge Juan T. Lizama poses for a photo after an interview on Friday.
