By Zaldy Dandan
SAIPAN, CNMI (Mariana Variety, March 26, 2010) – The Fitial administration’s costly contention regarding the federalization law has already been dismissed by a D.C. court. Yet here it is again, rehashing its rejected arguments and still insisting that those who disagree are "incorrect."

We are referring to the questionable piece of legislation, P.L. 17-1, which the governor’s office drafted and the Legislature passed, as usual, with unseemly haste, without even reading and studying the bill. Only two lawmakers -- Reps. Ray N. Yumul and Ramon A. Tebuteb -- did the right thing and voted "no." But at least the speaker was candid enough to admit that they were merely complying with the governor’s "request." The administration, typically, has to resort to doubletalk. It claims that this new law will ensure that more U.S. citizens are employed in the private sector. In reality, all the administration wants is to re-assert control, which it has already lost, and to collect fees that may help pay for this bankrupt government’s obligations, including the salaries of its political hires. And never mind the impact on the business community and what remains of the local economy.

Some have described this controversy as a "power struggle." But that implies a contest between two equal forces. What we have here is an attempt to usurp authority that now belongs to the federal government, which must step in. The feds, as a local lawyer has suggested, must seek a declaratory judgment and an injunction against the Fitial administration.

Those who believed last November that re-electing the leader of a failed administration would not "hurt" the CNMI should re-read the governor’s recent statements regarding the Covenant. The CNMI is undergoing major changes yet here is the governor, still clinging to the past and unable to move on. But now he has a new excuse for his leadership’s failures: the feds, for "punishing" the commonwealth. How? By removing his control over local labor and immigration policies -- which is allowed by the Covenant as ratified by close to 80 percent of the NMI voters.

Federalization, moreover, was not a bolt out of the blue. It was first proposed by the Reagan administration in 1986 and was discussed in the U.S. Congress and the CNMI throughout the 1990s and in the first decade of this new century. U.S. lawmakers even conducted a hearing on island. They consulted with CNMI leaders. When it became law in 2008, the CNMI had over a year to prepare for its implementation, but the governor chose to challenge it in court. He failed. We picked the tab.

Now while the economy he promised to improve in 2005 continues to unravel, he prefers to mope. The CNMI government’s obligations are increasing. The Retirement Fund judgment has yet to be paid. There is still no budget. CUC cannot comply with the federal stipulated orders. Businesses are wondering what labor rules they should follow. Government collections are expected to plunge further. Tourist arrivals are still dismal. The list goes on, but the governor would rather relive olden days.

In these trying times, the CNMI needs a leader, not a broken CD.

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