Fitial allies on impeachment panel want closed-door meeting

THE organizational meeting of the special committee reviewing the resolution that calls for the impeachment of Gov. Benigno R. Fitial should not be open to the public, Vice Speaker Felicidad T. Ogumoro said yesterday.

Ogumoro, Covenant-Saipan, also lashed out at the committee chairman, House Minority Leader Joseph P. Deleon Guerrero for writing a letter to the governor without consulting the other members.

She said Deleon Guerrero, R-Saipan, acted unilaterally.

In his letter, Deleon Guerrero told the governor that he should not make a written response to the 16 articles of impeachment because they are still in committee.

Ogumoro said Deleon Guerrero’s letter is “outrageous, ridiculous and insane…considering the magnitude of the decision the House has been asked to do â€" to impeach the father of this commonwealth, Gov. Benigno Repeki Fitial.”

In their joint letter to Deleon Guerrero, Ogumoro, Reps. Fredrick P. Deleon Guerrero, Ind.-Saipan; Stanley T. Torres, Ind.-Saipan; and Joseph M. Palacios, R-Saipan, said it was also premature to schedule the first meeting “and it should not have been published.”

The four, who are also members of the committee, reminded the chairman that he is just one of the eight appointed to the panel by the speaker.

To ensure “clarity, participation and avoid needless confusion” the four said only the panel members should meet with the assigned counsel in order to “articulate and memorialize the rules.”

In an interview, Ogumoro said the committee members need to focus on the rules.

Once they’ve done with that, she said, “the deliberations should be [broadcast] live.”

She said in the organizational meeting, only members and the legal counsel should be present “so we can be able to develop the rules that will govern the special committee.”

Ogumoro said she has yet to receive a reply from Chairman Deleon Guerrero.

But Glen Hunter, one of the concerned citizens who support the impeachment process, said  a closed-door meeting  is a violation of the Open Government Act.

He said he understands Ogumoro’s concerns but there’s always a remedy if there are matters that need to be discussed privately.

“She can call for an executive session anytime in the meeting if needed and if she can justify it,” he added.

Hunter said Ogumoro and the rest of the House leadership know that they can go into executive session if necessary so their letter to Chairman Deleon Guerrero does not make sense.

“It’s a delaying tactic which  is expected. I don’t think anyone is surprised,” Hunter said.

Ogumoro said during the first meeting she will insist that the governor be given the opportunity to explain his side of the story.

Members should refer to the governor’s answers to each of the articles of impeachment.

“I think that we should be fair and be impartial in our deliberation so we definitely need to hear from the governor â€"  to give him the opportunity to air his side of the story on the 16 articles of impeachment,” Ogumoro said, adding that the special committee members should be able to make an “intelligent and informed decision to be fair and impartial.”

The articles of impeachment accuse Fitial of several acts of felony, corruption and neglect of duty,  which he has denied.