More lawmakers are supporting Public Auditor Michael Pai\u2019s reappointment, adding that Gov. Eloy S. Inos would have a tough job justifying replacing Pai in an election year and given Pai\u2019s independence and integrity in going after those who committed corruption and other wrongdoings in public office.<\/p>\n
Rep. Anthony Benavente (Ind-Saipan) said yesterday he is also backing House Vice Speaker Frank Dela Cruz\u2019s (Ind-Saipan) plan of introducing a legislative initiative making the public auditor post an elected one similar to an attorney general if Pai is not reappointed.<\/p>\n
Benavente pointed out that even if Pai was appointed by former governor Benigno R. Fitial in 2008, that didn\u2019t deter Pai and the whole Office of the Public Auditor from pursuing Fitial, along with his then-attorney general Edward T. Buckingham, for corruption and other wrongdoings allegations. Buckingham was found guilty of corruption charges.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat shows Pai has independence and integrity. He holds officials accountable for their actions,\u201d Benavente said.<\/p>\n
Rep. Christopher Leon Guerrero (Ind-Saipan), chairman of the House Committee on Judiciary and Government Operations, said last night that while the decision to reappoint or replace Pai rests with the governor, it would be tough for the governor to get lawmakers\u2019 support, given some members\u2019 position on the matter.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat happens if the Legislature rejects the governor\u2019s public auditor appointee if it\u2019s not Mr. Pai?\u201d Leon Guerrero asked. <\/p>\n
He believes that having an appointed public auditor works for the CNMI, given that Pai was a Fitial appointee yet that didn\u2019t stop OPA under his leadership from looking into Fitial\u2019s alleged corrupt actions while CNMI governor.<\/p>\n
Fitial was the first CNMI governor to be impeached by the House of Representatives for corruption, felony, and neglect of duty. Fitial resigned days before the start of his impeachment trial at the Senate. A corruption case against Fitial is still ongoing, with OPA\u2019s legal counsel George Hasselback as special prosecutor.<\/p>\n
\u201cAgain, I believe there is no reason for Pai to not be reappointed but the decision rests with the governor. The governor might have plans. We respect the governor\u2019s authority,\u201d Leon Guerrero said.<\/p>\n
Other lawmakers previously expressed support to Pai. <\/p>\n
On Monday, Pai told Saipan Tribune he is committed to a second term if the governor reappoints him.<\/p>\n
The governor confirmed Saturday he has checked a few individuals for the public auditor\u2019s post, but clarified that he has not decided yet whether to reappoint or replace Pai.<\/p>\n
Pai\u2019s six-year term as CNMI public auditor ends on Oct. 26, just a few days before the Nov. 4 general elections.<\/p>\n
Concerned citizen Glen Hunter said it is his sincere belief that had Pai not been the CNMI public auditor, there is a strong chance Fitial would still be the sitting governor \u201cwith Inos still sitting by him.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo other public authority rose to challenge the abuses of public trust committed by Fitial other than that of OPA under Pai\u2019s guidance. When other public officials ignored the people\u2019s calls for justice, Pai\u2019s team took the lead in a valiant attempt to restore integrity in our government,\u201d Hunter added. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
More lawmakers are supporting Public Auditor Michael Pai\u2019s reappointment, adding that Gov. Eloy S. Inos…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":35,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[26,65,186,136],"class_list":["post-178816","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-local-news","tag-cnmi","tag-house","tag-initiative","tag-opa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/178816","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/35"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=178816"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/178816\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=178816"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=178816"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=178816"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}