ROTA Independent mayoral candidate Harry James Atalig Masga is no longer pursuing his complaint against the Commonwealth Election Commission pertaining to the 101 absentee ballots that he claimed were “selectively targeted” in the general election.
Masga lost to his Republican opponent Aubrey Hocog by 35 votes in the five-way mayoral race. Masga garnered 470 votes while Hocog received 505 votes.
On Thursday, Masga said: “I have decided to not pursue my intended legal action against CEC so our people can unify and heal for the betterment of our Rota community. I will continue to serve our beautiful island of Rota, as I have been, and as best that I can so that we can move our Rota community forward.”
Masga extended his “heartfelt appreciation, and utmost thanks, to all who performed their civic duty by voting in the 2022 CNMI general election.”
He said it was his privilege and honor to have participated in the election as one of the mayoral candidates of Rota where he was fortunate to live “among this close-knit community which in recent years has faced tremendous hardships and challenges.”
After the Nov. 8 election, Masga said he was made aware of “perceived electoral irregularities, as well as the CEC’s challenge of the legitimacy of a significant number of registered absentee voters on Rota.”
He said, “With an aim of reforming these problematic issues, many urged him to seek redress and remedial action by way of commencing appropriate litigation in the CNMI courts.”
He said he was prepared to file a 23-page civil complaint in Superior Court “with voluminous documentary exhibits,” on or before the Nov. 25, 2022 deadline.
“Many have expressed their dismay that the Rota mayor-elect captured only 35% of the votes cast. Perhaps this can be easily addressed and remedied by invoking for Rota and Tinian mayoral elections the same runoff mechanism that CEC must implement in gubernatorial contests,” he said.
He added, “This is something that we can explore through a legislative or public initiative.”
He said between the certification of the 2022 CNMI general election results and the filing deadline, “I watched many of our people in the Rota community come together in unity, with great passion…to start healing. I can see that our people want nothing more than to get past the ugly and malicious campaigning.”
As Thanksgiving neared, Masga said he reflected “on the overwhelming appreciation that I have to be a Rota community member regardless of who is in office; and, I realized that all Rota residents, and not just elected officials, have the ability to initiate, create, and perpetuate ideas and avenues to improve our Rota community.”
He said, “We do not have to be elected officials to address the foremost problem that makes it financially impossible for many to reside on Rota, and causes daily economic and personal hardship on those of us able to remain on Rota: the exorbitant shipping/cargo/stevedore costs imposed by the singular entity granted a monopolistic stranglehold over Rota’s only commercial seaport during the past four decades.”
He said these “exorbitant fees have a negative trickle-down effect on the people of Rota, causing prices [of] food and necessities to be higher than those on Saipan or Tinian.”
Masga said he has “decided to not pursue my intended legal action against CEC so our people can unify and heal for the betterment of our Rota community.”
But “I will continue to serve our beautiful island of Rota, as I have been, and as best that I can so that we can move our Rota community forward.”
Masga also extends his “heartfelt appreciation and gratitude” to his family and friends, and especially his committee-to-elect and supporters for believing in him.
“My love for and faith in our Rota community remain strong, unbridled, and unconditionally optimistic for our future. Additionally, with the successful runoff election of Governor-elect Arnold I. Palacios and Lt. Governor-elect David M. Apatang, I trust that Rota, along with the rest of the Commonwealth, will rise up and prosper,” Masga said.
Harry James A. Masga
