Rep. Stanley T. Torres, R-Saipan, said the governor’s special legal counsel, Howard P. Willens, wasn’t able to make his presentation during the 10 a.m. meeting because there was no electricity and the Legislature has no generator.
Willens and other administration officials were supposed to brief legislators about commonwealth and U.S. labor laws, the CNMI’s present economic situation and economic recovery efforts.
The cash-strapped government is using YouTube rather than buy airtime on the local cable TV station due to budget constraint, according to Press Secretary Charles P. Reyes Jr.
Reyes said the governor made a 10-minute statement on YouTube.
In his statement, the governor said the Washington-based law firm he hired to review the CNMI’s proposed lawsuit against the U.S. government’s federalization law advised him to pursue the litigation.
But the governor said he prefers to consult first with local lawmakers before he pursues this option.
“I will be meeting with the Legislature next week to review our options for dealing with this situation. I now have the advice from the Washington law firm that I hired several weeks ago to look at the litigation alternative,” the governor said.
“Litigation may be the only alternative for challenging the labor provisions of the new federal law. This law presents the most serious threat to our right to local self-government that the Commonwealth has ever faced,” he added.
The governor further noted that the CNMI’s “right to self-government was given up” when the islands gave two-thirds of public lands on Tinian and the Farallon de Mendinilla to the U.S. military.
He said the Covenant is a good deal for the CNMI people but the right to local self-government is equally important.
“If we do not defend our right of local self-government now, under these circumstances, we have little hope that the Congress will respect this important right in the future,” he said.
