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Yumul to keep his seat while in Iraq
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Posted on Aug 15 2004
Saipan congressman Ray Yumul will keep his seat while he is deployed in Iraq, according to House leadership spokesman Charles Reyes Jr.
Reyes said that Yumul, who is leaving today for an 18-month training and deployment for Iraq, has not resigned and is not compelled to do so.
“He could maintain his post. He could keep his position until his term expires. Nobody could force him to resign,” said Reyes.
Reyes said that Yumul, as an army reservist, is responding to a call of duty, and is federally protected from any form of discrimination.
“There are some federal protections so that reservists are not discriminated against by employers, including the CNMI government,” he said.
Yumul, together with several other CNMI reservists, will be off for a six-month intensive military training in the U.S. mainland and one year deployment in Iraq.
In an interview upon his return after a month-long training in Hawaii last month, Yumul said that he was “positive” about his military assignment.
“This is a soldier’s call to defend freedom not only for our people but others as well. I feel a sense of national pride,” he had said.
As to his position, he had said that he would consult with key government leaders as well as former associate justice Edward Manibusan, who is the designated Civilian Aide to the Secretary of the Army in the CNMI.
On Friday, Yumul asked for people’s support and prayer “as we head into a theater of conflict in the service of our country.”
“I want to specially thank my constituents of Precinct 3 for their support and understanding… I specially hope that no one will feel that I have betrayed my obligation to the constituents who voted for me, whom I am also obligated to serve,” he said.
Yumul’s two-year term will expire in January 2006.
He is likely to be back from Iraq in February or March 2006.
Yumul, the youngest member of the House of Representatives, won his seat in the 2003 midterm elections under the Covenant Party.
