(CNMI Republican Party) — The Republican Party of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands on Friday issue the following statement regarding the four votes garnered in the Senate in favor of dismissing the articles of impeachment:
“The Republican Party is proud of Sen. Vinnie Sablan, candidate for lt. governor, for recusing himself from voting on a motion to dismiss the articles of impeachment. It was the right thing to do. We all know that if lt. governor candidate Vinnie Sablan didn’t recuse himself from the vote that the motion would have passed 5 to 3. But this wouldn’t be right.
“Unlike Rep. Tina Sablan who violated the law and rules of ethical conduct by directly voting on matters where she stands to gain financially, Lt. Governor candidate Vinnie Sablan further recused himself from voting on the articles of impeachment altogether.
“Lt. Governor candidate Vinnie Sablan did not require a legal analysis to make a decision on what is clearly a conflict of interest. He simply knew it to be wrong and recused himself. On the other hand, Rep. Tina Sablan tried to explain her incidental benefits in her conflict of interest analysis, but it fails when she did not dispute that her actions violated the Constitution when she voted to remove Governor Torres from this election. That benefit, which is outside the available remedy under the Constitution is no longer incidental but a direct and an improper benefit.
“Consistent with Governor Torres’ legal counsel’s position that we should abide by the law and rules as set forth governing these proceedings, the Republican Party rebukes Sen. Paul A. Manglona’s statement that ‘rules are meant to be broken.’ This is not an example we should leave for our children and families, and it is certainly not how we should run our government.
“The Republican Party encourages its candidates and supporters to stay on the high road throughout the rest of this campaign.”
For information on joining the movement to elect Torres-Sablan for governor and lt. governor, respectively, and our entire Republican slate, contact CNMI GOP President Candace Celis at cnmigop2022@gmail.com
