Tebuteb blasts ‘unofficial’ GOP meeting

Lifelong, card-carrying Republican Party member Rep. Ramon A. Tebuteb (R-Saipan) does not recognize newly elected CNMI GOP president Juan N. Babauta and labeled as unofficial the general membership meeting and subsequent election held last July 8 at the Garapan Central Park.

In a letter to former local Republican Party president Juan I. Tenorio, which the incumbent congressman still addressed as GOP president, Tebuteb said he was “disheartened to learn that the existing GOP bylaws and policies were blatantly disregarded during the recent ‘unofficial’ and ‘out of order’ GOP meeting, which was supposedly installed a new Republican Party leadership.”

He pointed out that Article 5 Section 13 of the GOP bylaws states that “No person may be endorsed for an appointed office, including appointment to a vacancy in an elective office by the Republican Party who is not a registered Republican, or who has, within twelve (12) months prior to such endorsement: 1. Been a member of any political party; 2. Resigned or forfeited his/her membership in the Republican Party.”

Tebuteb added that Article 5 Section 1 states that, “Enrollment shall become effective when an application signed by the applicants and witnessed by a member of a party has been received by the executive committee.”

For Tebuteb, what happened last July 8 was similar to a hostile takeover under the guise of a merger or transition.

“I and many other party members, in all sincerity cannot accept this new leadership based on the aforementioned and other violations of our GOP bylaws. As such you are still the president of the Republican Party of the CNMI,” said Tebuteb.

Babauta was elected the Republican Party of the NMI’s president on July 8 during a general meeting that also saw the acceptance of 1,077 new and returning members, mostly former Covenant Party members.

Besides Babauta, the others who were elected as board members were Division of Fish and Wildlife’s Richard Seman, Ramon “Ray” Salas, Commonwealth Ports Authority executive director Edward Deleon Guerrero, and Coastal Resources Management director Rita Chong.

The members also re-elected Roman “Bo” Palacios Jr. as national committeeman, and elected Viola Alepuyo as national committeewoman. Alepuyo is a Commonwealth Public Utilities Commission board member and Retirement Fund counsel.

Alepuyo’s term won’t start until September 2012, though, as MaryLou Ada is still the national committeewoman.