THE 15th House of Representatives held its first session on Jan. 9, 2006. Its 18 members consisted of seven Covenant Party members, seven Republicans, two Democrats and two independents. With the help of the two Democrats, one Republican and one independent, the Covenant Party, which had just won the closest gubernatorial election in CNMI history on a “Better Times” platform, assumed the leadership of the House.
In his inaugural speech, the new speaker said he was “so weary of the dire financial straits of our local government…. This is one of the biggest challenges facing each and every policy maker henceforth…. I need not belabor the issues and challenges that we face as we begin this year. We owe it to our people to work together to build real opportunities from planned wealth and job creations now waiting in the wings. Yes, I am also hopeful that as we come to terms with the obvious [we will] streamlin[e] government expenses in the interest of being able to retire our deficit…while opening real opportunities for fresh investments. Therefore, seek revenues to pay for basic vital services.”
One of the more vocal members of the minority bloc, for his part, said “the economy has to be priority number one. We cannot overspend. Deficit is a bad word. It is worse than a bad word, it is unconstitutional. The main question that is facing all of us in the Commonwealth is: ‘Are we truly going to see better times in the future, or will we struggle again with another self-serving administration that will lead us into the turmoil of bitter times? … I am obligated to represent not only my constituents, but I am also obligated to make sure that our Commonwealth does not become victimized by greed and corruption. I am also obligated to protect the people who challenge the people in power, because I know how it feels to be persecuted by an administration that objects to being challenged. I propose that our current legislature pursue the issues of both an elected attorney general and an elected public auditor, in order to prevent them from acting as puppets for corrupt government officials.”
Just three years later, in a general election year, vocal-member-of-the-minority-bloc was one of the staunchest supporters of the “self-serving” governor he had called “corrupt.”
But we’re getting ahead of ourselves.
Let’s take a look now at the inaugural session of the 16th House on Jan. 14, 2008. With the economy still in the dumps, and still no “Better Times” in sight, the Covenant-Democrat-led House leadership of 11 members had dwindled to five (four Covenant members, one Democrat), and the Republicans had taken over the leadership with 12 members and two independent allies. The 20th member was another independent who was truly independent. And there were 20 House members because two registered CNMI voters — one was a senator, and the other was the soon-to-be-elected-truly-independent-House member — petitioned the CNMI Supreme Court to reduce the number of House seats to 14 (12 Saipan seats, one each from Tinian and Rota) from 18 (16 Saipan seats, one each from Tinian and Rota).
You’ve read that right. The petition was for fewer House seats. The local high court instead added two Saipan seats, citing year-2000 Census data, and never mind that the population in 2008 had already shrunk significantly.
And so: Good intentions 0, Unintended Consequences 1.
In his inaugural speech on Jan. 14, 2008, the newly deposed Covenant speaker noted that the new Legislature had “many young guns, both men and women, and I sincerely appreciate their thoughts and will accept comments from our newly elected members primarily the youthfulness of their expertise.” Two of the new members were lawyers.
As for the new speaker who belonged to the opposition party, he noted in his inaugural speech that they “face a crisis of confidence in government. People will tell you that they have lost faith and that they see [Capital] Hill as a place [where] well-connected friends are enriched, politicians…make promises they do not keep, and decisions are made regardless [of] the consequences [to] the daily struggles and plights of families and businesses. Our people are deserving of so much more from [their] leaders. I call on all of you to restore the people’s confidence. We do this by making government a staunch defender of fairness and opportunity for all. We do this by making government come through on its promises for a better and prosperous Commonwealth. We do this by making government a reflection of what is good and what is right about the Commonwealth. We do this by making government an institution that everyone can be proud to call their own…. When we say that the basic duty of the House is to serve as voice of the people, that is not mere rhetoric. It is the constitutional truth. Here in the House our basic responsibility is to listen to the concerns of the people, to debate the issues and at the end to resolve the problems we face…. My colleagues, the time for action, the right action is now. We need a plan to succeed not a shoot from the hip strategy destined to fail but one that strives for sustainable growth…. Let us…advance initiative[s] to put our economy on a way to recovery. We need a fiercely competitive destination market, our tourism industry and promotional efforts must be enhanced by the unique and distinctive culture of the Northern Marianas. We must also develop and follow through the concrete plans to seize opportunities and take advantage of the military buildup in Guam. This will require additional promotional funding for MVA…. Finally, we must not forget our constitutional commitment to our children’s education. When we do not provide basic school supplies, when we do not provide adequate facilities, when we do not place schools as a budget priority we endanger our livelihood, our future, and our ability to inspire our young children to work harder and to strive to be better citizens. I challenge you, my colleagues, not to shortchange the education of our children…. [This] Legislature can be a start of a new and great Commonwealth. As leaders we must be open to the thought of thinking outside the box and trying new things…. We must forge a way of new policymaking, a new way of prioritizing the needs of the Commonwealth together as a whole. Saipan, Rota, Tinian and the Northern Islands, we are all together in this venture called the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. We must work together.”
Lofty Political Speeches 0, The World is What it Is, 1.
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