REPRESENTATIVE Pedro P. Castro has pre-filed House Legislative Initiative 13-06 which seeks to limit the qualification of certain elective offices to persons born of parents of Northern Marianas descent, which he said is “consistent with” the Covenant and the Constitution of the United States.
Based on Castro’s findings, the CNMI, based on figures from Census 2000, has a total population of 62,221 of which only 17,401 and 2,652 are Chamorros and Carolinians.
He said the presence of 58,820 non-Chamorros and Carolinians in the CNMI “is alarming and could be a major threat to (the natives’) well-being in the future.”
Castro said CNMI leaders should “prevent” non-Chamorros and Carolinians from getting into elective offices.
Under H.L.I. 13-06, candidates seeking any CNMI public office must be a Chamorro or a Carolinian.
Currently, any U.S. citizen who meets the requirements set by the local Constitution and law can seek public office.
A legislative initiative is a proposal to amend the CNMI Constitution. It needs to be passed by 3/4 of the voting members of the Senate and the House before it could be placed on the ballots in the next general elections.
CNMI voters will then have a chance either to ratify or reject the legislative initiative.
