EAGI to tackle Soll’s nomination in May

Acting Attorney General Herb D. Soll will face the powerful Senate Committee on Executive Appointments and Governmental Investigations on May 5, less than a week before his appointment expires without its advice and consent.

But EAGI chair Sen. Joaquin G. Adriano said he does not foresee any problem for his confirmation, noting that most committee members have expressed support for the governor’s choice.

The committee has scheduled a public hearing on his nomination at the Tinian Court House and asked government officials, led by Chief Justice Miguel S. Demapan and mayors of the three municipalities, as well as lawyers and private sector representatives to attend the town meeting.

Mr. Adriano said he will push for his confirmation after the hearing when the Senate holds its session later in the same day.

It will come just five days before the expiration of Mr. Soll’s appointment. Gov. Pedro P. Tenorio submitted his name to the Senate on Feb. 10, giving his AG appointee 90 days to assume the post without the upper house’s advice and consent under a constitutional provision that was affirmed by the Superior Court early this year.

It is expected that he will get the much-needed confidence votes as two senators have openly endorsed his nomination. Both Mr. Adriano and Senate Floor Leader Pete P. Reyes are pushing for his immediate confirmation.

If he does get their approval, Mr. Soll, 63, will the be the first Attorney General to assume the crucial post in a permanent capacity after a long succession of acting officials that dated back to the previous administration.

According to EAGI chairman, the only opposition received by the committee is the one coming from Rep. Stanley T. Torres who has asked the panel to scrutinize the chief government lawyer before giving its approval.

“We are supporting him,” he told in an interview yesterday, noting that earlier concerns from some members regarding reforms in the Attorney General’s Office have now been addressed by Mr. Soll.

Mr. Reyes, whose opposition against former acting Attorney General Maya B. Kara led to her eventual rejection by the Senate in 1998, made an uncharacteristically positive statement on the governor’s latest nominee.

“From the information I have received, Mr. Soll appears to be impeccable. There’s nothing we can find wrong with this person,” he said in a separate interview.

“I don’t think that personal feeling plays a role here,” explained the EAGI member. “Anyone who wants to do the right thing should cast his vote in support of Mr. Soll. Anyone who would vote against him should better have a good reason for it.”

Mr. Soll, whose assumption into office came in the wake of the court ruling that forced Ms. Kara to step down and ordered Mr. Tenorio to name her replacement, has met only once with the EAGI to discuss his appointment.

The AG post has drawn controversy in the past few years after former Gov. Froilan C. Tenorio appointed a succession of officials in acting capacity because of the Senate’s rejection of their nominations.

Meanwhile, Sen. Ramon S. Guerrero asked Mr. Adriano to re-set the scheduled public hearing on Mr. Soll from Tinian to Saipan in view of the number of people on the capital island interested to testify before the committee and the costs it would incur if it is held in his district.