But Tomeing’s action has fueled speculation about the future of his coalition government that has held an 18-15 majority in the parliament since it was elected 13 months ago.
In parliament on nationally broadcast radio, deBrum criticized the president for not working closely with landowners who are seeking higher rent payments from the U.S. Army that operates the Reagan Test Site missile base at Kwajalein Atoll, and called the Ppesident’s advisors “a cancer in this government.”
DeBrum and Tomeing have recently split over policy toward the United States, which provides nearly two-thirds of this western Pacific country’s national budget of $120 million, as Tomeing employed conciliatory engagement with Washington while deBrum has taken a confrontational approach to relations over future U.S. use of the missile testing range and other issues.
DeBrum confirmed Thursday he received a resignation request letter earlier this week from the president, but did not respond. “I don’t know (if I’m in or out),” he said, adding that his tenure in the cabinet was being worked on within the party and he hoped it would be solved amicably.
But Wednesday the president signed a letter revoking deBrum’s appointment as minister of foreign affairs, according to aides.
A block of senators in the ruling coalition, including deBrum’s colleagues from Kwajalein Atoll, which deBrum represents in the parliament, are pushing the president to maintain deBrum in the cabinet, said a source who asked not to be identified.
The opposition United Democratic Party is using the disarray in the government to negotiate an alternative coalition to regain a parliamentary majority that they lost after the Nov. 2007 national election. UDP Chairman and Sen. Ruben Zackhras has met with the prresident discussing opportunities, while other UDP senators are meeting with other factions within the ruling coalition, according to party members.
Tomeing was elected in Jan. 2008, heading the first coalition government in the 30-year history of constitutional government.
