Controversial ad sparks heated exchange

The controversial Covenant Party political ad depicting the purportedly close relationship between Republican Gov. Juan N. Babauta and American businesswoman Sedy Demesa has sparked a heated political debate, with representatives of rival parties and their allies trading barbs.

Covenant Party’s advertising committee chair Charles Reyes, Jr. said the political ad is a legitimate campaign issue and community concern, saying that the CNMI’s voters have historically been wary of wealthy off-island special interest groups meddling in local political affairs for their own personal benefit.

“Many of us are apprehensive about the idea of a fabulously wealthy individual patronizing a local politician in order to have an unseemly or undue influence over our local government. The Covenant Party believes the public has a right to know the full extent of Sedy Demesa’s financial support, if any, for Governor Babauta’s re-election campaign, and whether anything is expected in return,” Reyes said.

“Local election law requires the full disclosure of all campaign contributions in excess of a hundred dollars, and Ms. Demesa may be contributing many thousands of dollars in promotional publicity through her media publications and TV production, all for the apparent benefit of Governor Babauta and the local GOP,” he added.

Demesa—who has controlling shares in Pleasant Care Corp., a company that operates nearly 50 convalescent hospitals and nursing homes in California and Nevada—owns the weekly publication Pacific Times and the monthly P magazine, which began circulation in the CNMI early this year.

But according to her, her businesses in the CNMI are all legitimate and non-controversial. She has denied having any special interest in maintaining a good relationship with the Babauta administration.

Demesa formed part of the group of potential investors who attended a Department of the Interior-sponsored investment conference on Saipan sometime last May.

During the conference, Demesa disclosed that her company wants to operate a nursing school on Saipan as part of its efforts to meet the demand for nursing professionals in the United States. She also disclosed eyeing the establishment of a senior citizen community on Saipan, among other business prospects.

According to Demesa, her involvement in P and Pacific Times is purely business, saying that she has not been meddling with the publications’ editorial affairs.

But Reyes said that Demesa should apologize to the public and CNMI political parties other than the GOP for allegedly “desperately trying to use her money to discredit the administration’s rivals through her propaganda media outlets.”

“Sedy Demesa’s Pacific Times and her other related pro-BB propaganda media outlets represent her desperation to try to bamboozle the CNMI voting public into re-electing Governor Juan Nekai Babauta, despite his pronounced track record of failure on so many fronts, from garments, CUC, tourism, education, law enforcement, and beyond,” Reyes said.

“Sedy Demesa claims she is not a ‘tycoon’ because one of her companies, Pleasant Care, only grosses about $224 million a year, which is more than the CNMI government’s entire annual budget for Saipan, Rota, Tinian, and the Northern Islands,” Reyes added.