The two-day summit started on Dec. 10 but Fitial, who rarely missed the annual event, made the decision not to go as soon as he came back from a personal trip to Hong Kong.
Press Secretary Angel A. Demapan in an interview yesterday said Fitial has been a staunch supporter of regional collaboration and has faithfully attended the summits since he become CNMI governor in Jan. 2006.
But he said the governor decided to attend to the more pressing issues facing the commonwealth. The timing of this year’s summit, Demapan added, was just bad.
Fitial had a tight schedule last week and had to meet with visiting Department of the Interior Assistant Secretary on Insular Affairs Tony Babauta.
“The governor just have a lot of things to do here so he felt his presence is more needed here,” Demapan said.
Fitial was not the only Micronesian chief executive who skipped the Kosrae summit.
Guam Gov. Eddie Calvo, Federated States of Micronesia President Emanuel Mori and Palau President Johnson Toribiong were also unable to attend due to conflicts with their schedules.
Demapan said the organizers tried to move the summit to a later date, but the hosting committee decided to proceed because many participants had already arranged their travel to Kosrae.
But Fitial, Calvo, Mori and Toribiong sent representatives to Kosrae.
Special Assistant for Administration Esther S. Fleming represented Fitial.
