He said he remains a loyal Republican, but he believes “recent party events” will result in the defection of other loyal Republicans.
He was referring to the July 8 meeting which saw the admission to the GOP of 1,000 Covenant Party members and the election of former Gov. Juan N. Babauta as the new Republican chairman.
Tebuteb said he does not recognize the meeting which he called “unofficial” and “out of order.”
“My personal observation is that there have been violations of policies. These policies are made for good reasons,” he said.
He warned that the Republican National Committee is very particular with party policy compliance.
In his letter to former GOP Chairman Juan I. Tenorio, Tebuteb said he was “disheartened to learn that the existing GOP by-laws and policies were blatantly disregarded during the recent ‘unofficial’ and ‘out of order’ GOP meeting which supposedly installed a new Republican Party leadership.”
He cited party by-laws that state: “No person may be endorsed for an appointed office, including appointment to a vacancy in an elective office by the Republican Party who is not a registered Republican, or who has, within 12 months prior to such endorsement:
“a. Been a member of any other political party
“b. Resigned or forfeited his/her membership in the Republican Party.”
Tebuteb said “what transpired seemed like a hostile takeover under the guise of ‘merger/transition.’ ”
He said he and many other party members, “in all sincerity, cannot accept this new leadership based on the aforementioned and other violations of our GOP by-laws.”
Tebuteb still considers Tenorio as the party president.
Tenorio, in a separate interview, said he will respond to Tebuteb’s letter.
He said he is now reviewing the by-laws and will respond to the lawmaker’s letter today.
