GOVERNOR Ralph DLG Torres said he did not invite Lt. Gov. Arnold I. Palacios and House Speaker Edmund S. Villagomez to the budget-signing ceremony on Saturday because they do not believe in his leadership.
“I didn’t invite either one of them,” the governor said. “For one, there’s no reason to invite someone that doesn’t believe in the leadership…. [But] regardless [of] whether [or not] they don’t support the vision and the hard work that I’ve done in safeguarding our community, I will continue to do so,” he added.
The Republican governor blamed the Democrat-Independent House leadership for the delay in the passage of the fiscal year 2023 budget bill. For their part, the House leadership blamed him.
In his closing remarks at the gubernatorial debate on Thursday evening, Torres said over the last three years, he has been running the government “alone.”
He added, “If there is one thing that I want you to get and remember from this, it is this: all the solutions and success do not happen on this stage. It couldn’t happen with…speeches. It happens with a dedicated team going to the front line with [first[ responders, going to the airport at two o’clock in the morning to receive critical goods and supplies, conducting Zoom meetings at 4 a.m. with our federal partners to ensure that we get proper resources, establishing a relationship with all of our federal partners — [the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the U.S. Department of Defense, the U.S. Department of Labor] the Department of the Interior and the White House. Over the last three years, I have virtually done this alone.”
Torres, whose running mate is Senate Floor Leader Vinnie F. Sablan, said he needs a partner who can be with him at the front line.
“I need a partner who will show up every day to work,” the governor added. “Our Commonwealth deserves a reliable lt. governor. Remember when you walk into that booth that you are voting for solutions, voting for leadership that delivers, and you are voting for my lt. governor, Vinnie Sablan, who we know will show up every day to work and who would join me at the office or on the field. It’s been tough running this government alone. Imagine working together with a reliable and capable partner.”
He noted that Sablan was one of the Senate conferees who were meeting with their House counterparts to draft an FY 2023 budget measure acceptable to both chambers.
“It is critical that he is there to address the budget, to safeguard every employee in the government,” the governor said.
“To everyone that calls our Commonwealth our home, in this election, you have the choice to continue with the progress we have made and leadership you deserve when the next typhoon, pandemic, or economic disaster hits. You have seen me deliver the promises of progress and solution-driven leadership,” he added.
Lt. Gov. Arnold I. Palacios is running as an Independent candidate for governor with Saipan Mayor David M. Apatang as his running mate.
The other gubernatorial candidate is Democratic Rep. Tina Sablan of Precinct 2 whose running mate is Rep. Leila Haveia F. C. Staffler of Precinct 5.
Gov. Ralph DLG Torres speaks before signing the fiscal year 2023 budget bill into law, Saturday, in his conference room at the administration building on Capital Hill.
