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216 the Contemporary Pacific • Spr Ing 2001 Julianne M Wa L S H R E F E Re

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216 the Contemporary Pacific • Spr Ing 2001 Julianne M Wa L S H R E F E Re 216 the contemporary pacific • spr ing 2001 hardship, and loss of land use (M I J, While Imata Kabua and Tom 21 April 1999, 1). The current com- Kijiner (6th term senator) are the sole pensation package under the compact survivors of the past cast of major is consistently shown to be inadequate players, their allies still represent a to address both health and land loss threat to the new government. Presi- claims. dent Note has prohibited his cabinet In other foreign affairs, the repub- from traveling during the Nitijela ses- lic’s Korean consul, “Mr Big” Mo sion, perhaps because of the precari- Haeng Yong, was arrested for swin- ous majority his party maintains; the dling $88 million from followers of potential for a backlash vote of no his doomsday cult (M I J, 4 Feb 2000, confidence is carefully measured (M I J, 1). Yong had planned a $6 million 11 Feb 2000, 24). The fact that this resort on Mili that was never con- possibility even exists, and that both structed. parties are in the position of strug- Marshall Islands relations with Tai- gling to earn or maintain a majority, wan were enhanced by the acceptance marks the development of a true par- of Taiwanese funds that had been put liamentary system. on six-month hold after the elections julianne m wa l s h while the new government investigated rum o r ed Taiwanese campaign involve- ments. A supplementary budget of Re f e re n c e s $27.9 million (two-thirds from Tai- M I J, Marshall Islands Journal. Weekly. wan) was passed in the first special Majuro. session of the Nitijela in June 2000 RMI Online. 18 March 2000. (M I J, 23 June 2000). (h t tp://www.rmiem b a s s y us.org) In sum, the year has witnessed a turn of the tides in the politics of the Walsh, Julianne M. 1999. Political Review Marshall Islands. A new government of the Marshall Islands. The Contempo- that promotes accountability, trans- rary Pacific 12:204–211. parency, and fiscal responsibility has taken charge. Young, educated stu- N o rthern Mariana Islands dents are returning to work in the government and a youthful hopeful- The garment industry continued to ness and optimism is in the air, as receive heavy criticism and negative long-term opposition leaders and new actions in the course of the year under public servants step into office. Fish- review. As noted in last year’s report, eries, tuna transshipment, pearls, and class-action lawsuits targeting retail a top-performing maritime registry outlets inside the United States were are generating revenues. Previously filed against the garment industry in marginalized outer-island communi- Saipan, Washington d c , and San ties are receiving attention and Francisco. The Saipan lawsuit was resources. Citizens are being filed on behalf of some 22 an o n y m o u s approached for their ideas, asked garment workers. In July an attempt about their needs, and having them was made in state and federal court to addressed. throw out the case because the work- political reviews • micron e s i a 217 ers were not identified. Their lawyers known as the Western Pacific Eco- claimed that identifying plaintiffs nomic Council to keep lobbyist Pre- would subject them to harassment ston Gates working in Washington to and possibly serious danger, both on prevent a federal takeover of immi- Saipan and in their countries of origin. gration and minimum wage in the Judge Munson found that the fairness commonwealth. doctrine required the defendants to Eff o r ts to bring the North e r n Mari- know who the plaintiffs are, and rul e d anas into the federal immigration and against the garment workers. Their wage system continued. The US Senate lawyers appealed the case to the Ninth adopted by unanimous consent Bill Circuit Court, which overturned 1052, which provided for a ten-year Judge Munson’s decision. gradual implementation of the Immi- As a result of the class-action suit, gration and Naturalization Service and many garment retailers agreed to an federal minimum wage laws. However, out-of-court settlement, which the bill languished in the House Com- included money to pay for monitoring mi t t e e on Natural Resources, whose the garment factories where they buy chairman, Representative Don Young, their products, attorney fees, and has adamantly opposed attempts to compensation for the workers. A $1.5 federalize these issues. It is not million fund was established by the expected to come to a vote before retailers for this purpose. The decision the November 2000 elections. was not welcomed by the Saipan Gar- In a related series of events of ment Manufacturers Association, major significance Representative which wanted to go to trial to prove Young’s committee received informa- the charges were false. In order to tion that the director of the Office of compromise with federal enforcement Insular Affairs (oia) and a few of his agencies, however, the association staff members were engaged in possi- made an arrangement with the Occu- bly illegal activities. Young’s commit- pational Safety and Health Adminis- tee subpoenaed the hard drives of all tration and other federal agencies to the computers in that office. Public provide workshops and other educa- Information Officer David North was tional activities in the factories. found to have been feeding the Demo- In February 2000 Speaker Ben cratic national committee with nega- Fitial introduced legislation to raise tive information about Republican the ceiling on the number of contract candidates who were opposing the workers and garment factories administration’s position on federal- allowed in the commonwealth. ization. North had been using his Known as the Omnibus Labor Reform office computer and working time to Act, it contained many other provi- carry on this campaign. The Saipan sions to lift restrictions on private Tribune newspaper suggested that the enterprise. However, by July 2000 this oia campaign involved deliberately bill had not been passed. The Saipan issuing negative information about Garment Manufacturers Association, the living conditions and treatment of the Chamber of Commerce, and the the garment workers on Saipan. As hotel association formed a group soon as subpoenas were issued for 218 the contemporary pacific • spr ing 2001 the computers, North resigned. As Cayetano decision in the US Supreme the story was breaking, oia Director Court. Alan Stayman transferred to the State Although the Democrats won the Department as chief negotiator for election and a majority in the House talks with the Republic of the Mar- of Representatives and held a caucus shall Islands and the Federated States to select their next Speaker, Republi- of Micronesia concerning the renewal can Benigno Fitial was elected to the of the compacts of free association position instead. Fitial had resigned with the United States. A hearing was the top management position in Tan held by Young’s committee, but an Holdings, owned by garment factory official report has not been released. magnate Willy Tan, to run for the In local elections, former governor House of Representatives. He lobbied Froilan Tenorio fielded a slate of can- several Democrats, especially those didates for the legislature under the from Tinian and Rota, and with the banner of the new Reform Party. To “moral support” of two staffers from nearly everyone’s surprise, Ramon Congressman Tom Delay’s office in Guerrero defeated all candidates for Washington dc won the office. Fitial the single seat in the Senate open for was able to convince enough Demo- Saipan. He did this without the sup- crats to vote for him on the promise port of either of the traditional par- of greater support for the Tinian and ties. He also garne r ed the largest num- Rota budgets, and with the idea that ber of votes of any single candidate in only he had the connections with the commonwealth. Using his new- Congressman Young’s committee in found political strength, Guerrero Washington to maintain the defensive asked the public auditor to audit how position against a federal takeover of members of the legislature spent their minimum wage and immigration. The $30,000 discretionary funds. The new Speaker then commenced to take commonwealth budget officer has very strong hold of the House of Rep- refused to fund or to reimburse legis- resentatives and to challenge anyone lators for some of their expenditures. who differed with his position. He led In return, some members of the legis- a large delegation to Washington and lature asked the public auditor to introduced legislation on the first day reopen the case against Guerrer o rel a t - to repeal all laws on the books that ing to the audit report that showed he were perceived as anti-garment and had dispensed some thousands of dol- anti–private sector. He appointed only lars illegally when he was the director his supporters to committee chairma n - of the Utilities Corporation. ships. He has also taken a very vocal Only one of three legislative ini- position against the current Washing- tiatives to amend the constitution ton representative, Juan Babauta passed. This would limit future voting Babauta, who is considered one of the on issues relating to public land to front runners in a large field of candi- persons of Northern Marianas dates for governor in the 2001 elec- descent. However, it is highly ques- tion. tionable whether it will stand up in There is much concern in the com- the courts in light of the Rice versus monwealth about the outcome of the political reviews • micron e s i a 219 2000 federal elections.
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