902 talks to be held in CNMI

The CNMI is gearing up for its upcoming 902 talks with the United States and has decided to host the momentous conversations in Saipan.

The Palacios-Apatang administration is in the midst of preparations for the upcoming consultations between the governments of the CNMI and the United States pursuant to Section 902 of the Covenant also known as “902 talks”.

In a statement from Gov. Arnold I. Palacios last week, he said while his administration is still finalizing the procedural aspects of the consultations, one thing for sure is that he wants the face-to-face discussions to be held on Saipan.

“The face-to-face talks will be held on Saipan. We want [United States government representatives] to come and see the challenges we face to [understand] why the discussion points we are going to bring up are very relevant. We have some tentative dates but that’s up for discussion,” he said.

Palacios said he is currently in discussion with U.S. President Joseph Biden’s appointed representative, assistant secretary of the Interior Carmen G. Cantor, to finalize dates and protocols for the upcoming 902 talks.

“I will be meeting with assistant secretary Cantor, whose been appointed to be the President’s representative for the 902 talks, and we’re going to be finalizing the dates and protocols for the meetings. We’re exchanging those thoughts, and we will be finalizing that,” he said.

Palacios adds that the 902 talks will push forward, and he hopes they will be finalized by the time the U.S. elects its new President.

“When a new President comes in, a lot of shifting will occur of course, but we have to give them time. There are some folks that we’re probably going to meet who will still be there. Nevertheless, if the new administration comes in, we’re going to make sure that we make that effort to immediately communicate with the White House to continue those talks,” he said.

Last July, President Biden responded to the CNMI’s request to initiate consultations between the governments of the CNMI and the United States pursuant to Section 902 of the Covenant to “establish the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands in political union with the U.S.”.

As part of his response, Biden officially appointed Carmen G. Cantor, the assistant secretary of the Interior, as his representative for the 902 consultations.

In an interview with Palacios last month, he shared that he is narrowing down who will be joining him in the 902 consultations and is in the process of identifying the date in which to have the 902 talks.

When asked who would be joining him, Palacios said aside from lawmakers, he has chosen a few people as part of his team.

“From our team it’s going to be Mike Sablan from Triple J (who will be handling the technical aspects), then we have Wesley Bogdan who will serve as one of our legal counsels. We will, of course, have other legal counsels looking at other things to make sure everything is running smoothly. Then there will be other technical people from my staff like Tina Sablan, Glenn Hunter, and Frankie Elliptico. Then we have of course the Legislature,” he said.

Palacios said he will also be choosing representatives from Tinian and Rota to join the 902 consultations to ensure Tinian and Rota have a voice in the conversation.

“We’re going to have someone from Tinian, Phillip [Mendiola-Long] has volunteered. He’s a businessman from Tinian. I also have to talk to the delegation of Rota,” he said.

“At the end of the day, there’s going to be subject areas. The 902 consultations will not be all over the place. We will give our input and then we’re going to ask for their perspective and opinions to put it all together,” he added.

According to a previous article on the Saipan Tribune, for this round of consultations, Palacios requested to engage with the U.S. government on three priority issues: 1) direct financial assistance under Section 702 of the Covenant; 2) tourism and transportation infrastructure; and 3) access to skilled labor.

Palacios said the CNMI looks forward to engaging with assistant secretary Cantor and her team in a transparent and candid discussion about these issues and about how they can work collaboratively toward achieving goals that would mutually benefit the CNMI and the federal government

Section 902 of the Covenant provides that the government of the United States and the CNMI will designate special representatives to meet and consider in good faith such issues affecting the relationship between the Northern Mariana Islands and the United States as may be designated by either government and to make a report and recommendations with respect thereto.

Arnold I. Palacios