The need to start a ‘People’s Movement’

The people of the CNMI have been going through a very difficult time for several years now. The downturn in the economy and the power crisis are two of the reasons for the hardship we all are going through. But the fundamental reason for the situation we are in has been the lack of qualified, competent and dedicated leaders in the CNMI government. This has been the case for a long time now with the executive and legislative branches. It has also been the case with most of the department and agencies of the CNMI government. If we are to extricate ourselves from the predicament that we are in—i.e. if the CNMI is to grow, develop, prosper and improve the quality of life here–, then we have to start electing to public office those individuals who are indeed qualified to serve. We must begin electing only those candidates who are competent to lead. We could no longer afford to elect any candidate who is not dedicated to public service and who does not have the best interest of the people of the CNMI.

Thirty years ago this past Jan. 8, we began exercising self-government, for the first time, under our own constitution. Our experience in self-government over that one-generational span has very sadly been neither laudable nor noteworthy. It has been an experience that we are not proud of. Indeed, if we are to grade our overall performance in self-government, our grade for the first decade would probably be a “C-,” or less than average. For the second ten years of self-government, our leadership performance remained about the same, a less than average grade of “C-.” For our third decade of self-government, our self-government grade went down to a “D-.” Some of us would actually give our government leaders, for the last ten years, a failing grade of “F.”

We have been, for at least six years now, either on the verge of failing and, at times, have actually been failing in our job at self-governance. And this should be a cause for alarm to all of us. For if our leaders in government fail us, essential public services would stop. Essential public services, as we have already seen, have been drastically cut back for at least six years now. Public service would indeed stop if the CNMI government becomes bankrupt or otherwise becomes financially insolvent. Indeed, we are now teetering on the edge of this economic precipice.

The telltale signs are all around us. The people have been, justifiably so, extremely frustrated and angry with the very dismal performance of our leaders in government. Our power system, as we now all know, has basically failed. Our laws have been unstable and unpredictable for many years now. Our government has no real goal or vision for the future of the CNMI. Essential public services—public education, public health and public safety—have been greatly compromised for at least six years now because of the decline in government revenue.

To make matters worse, there has been so much infighting among our leaders, both elected and appointed. There has been a lot of political grandstanding and gamesmanship going on in government. Our leaders, it seems, are always trying their best to outdo one another, without regard to the lasting impact their actions have on the general public. The end result of all these political “shenanigans” is that the welfare and well-being of the people keep getting worse and worse.

This year—2008—is probably the lowest point in CNMI self-government, judging from the government’s state of disarray. Our performance at self-government has been going backwards, instead of moving forward. Nothing positive has been happening in the CNMI for several years now. For example, most legislative matters have come to a standstill, because the two houses have literally been not on speaking terms. And next year—a general election year—the situation would predictably become worse. The political blame game will be played out by the candidates for public office with relish and gusto; again, while the people continue to suffer.

So are the people of the Commonwealth going to let the same old politics prevail once more, in 2009? Are we going to let the same old political back-scratching continue? Are we going to let the political parties and partisan interests prevail once again over the interest of the people of the CNMI? If the voters of the CNMI don’t do anything about the extremely critical matter of leadership in our government, then we really have no one to blame but ourselves. If the same situation prevails, “business as usual” would continue in the CNMI; and we the people would continue to be a part of the problem, for continuing to elect the same politicians to public office.

By now, it should be quite clear to all of us that none of the political parties or partisan groups has ever really made the public interest their priority. It has always been the party interest first; and the public interest last. The public is not even second or third. And this unhealthy political practice has got to stop. But in order for such practice to stop, the people have to say “No more.” No mas. In order for this to happen, the people of the CNMI have to get actively involved. The people of the CNMI should seriously consider organizing a “people’s movement” for competent leadership in government. A possible slogan for this movement could be “The People Come First.”

Once a people’s movement is organized and established, the people would be able to endorse and support only those candidates whom they find to be qualified, competent, and have the public interest as their first and only priority. If a people’s movement gets started and becomes influential, the people would play a pivotal role in determining which candidates are actually elected to office. The movement would be able to select and elect candidates that are qualified and competent, and have the public interest as their sole priority. The people would be the “political kingpin,” not the person or persons who are “bankrolling” the political candidates for public office.

This is, of course, a suggestion that is being made to the people of the CNMI for the next general election and afterwards. If the people of the CNMI feel that a “people’s movement” should be organized and launched, then those interested in starting such movement should meet and organize it within the next month or so.

The future of the Commonwealth is too important to leave to the politicians, the political parties and their political interests. As we know, the majority of politicians are motivated and dictated largely by their political parties and their own self-interest. We cannot continue accepting “as a given” the slates of candidates that the political parties “dish out” to us every general election, without any real choice. The people have to start participating and being actively involved in the selection and election of candidates for public office.

Should a “people’s movement,” therefore, be considered and organized? It is really up to the people of the CNMI. I believe it is high-time that a non-partisan movement gets established, with its first and only priority being the best interest of the people of the CNMI. The people need to “take the government back,” so that the government’s first priority would be us—the people; not the political parties and their party stalwarts and supporters.