MVarietyNews.com

GOVERNOR Benigno R. Fitial squared off with his main rival, Republican Rep. Heinz S, Hofschneider, in a debate on Tuesday evening that disclosed their differences on such key issues as federalization and the privatization of the Commonwealth Utilities Corp.’s power generation.

The debate was organized by the Coalition for Recognition, Equality and Advancement of American Ethnic Minorities, which claims to have about 1,200 members who are registered voters.
CREAM, which comprises mostly Filipino-Americans, earlier held a mock election which Fitial won overwhelmingly. Hofschneider placed a distant second.
CREAM then invited the two to the debate.
The two other gubernatorial candidates are former Sens. Ramon “Kumoi” S. Deleon Guerrero and Juan T. Guerrero.
The debate between Fitial and Hofschneider was held at the Fiesta Resort & Spa and was attended by their running-mates and spouses.
Fitial, who beat Hofschneider by 84 votes in the four-way 2005 election, agreed with his opponent regarding the importance of reviving the islands’ tourism-based economy.
“What we envision in the coming years is to make sure that we don’t increase taxes in the midst of a faltering economy,” said Hofschneider.
Fitial, for his part, said economic recovery can only be achieved with the right “legal infrastructure.”
“We need to develop a legal infrastructure that would be conducive to [a good business climate] so that investors can feel safe,” he said and touted his role as one of the sponsors of the CNMI Revenue & Taxation Act of 1982, the Foreign Investment Act and the Nonresident Workers Act.
Regarding education, both  agreed there should be more support given to the Public School System and Northern Marianas College.
Hofschneider said a return to “basics” should ensure that every child in the CNMI is able to read, write and count based on his grade level.
“Education is the key to our future. Every society is judged by how well it educates the people,” he added.
Regarding federalization, Hofschneider said the CNMI’s relationship with the U.S. government sank to its lowest point during the Fitial administration.
The U.S. law federalizing the islands’ immigration system should be given a chance, he added.
“Our belligerent behavior has lost us our credibility over the years. Our voices, our credibility are at its lowest,” he said.
Fitial who has filed a lawsuit to stop the implementation of the federalization law, said the statute will not do any good for the CNMI.
“I don’t have anything good to say about federalization. Federalization will remove our investors. Federalization will remove our students,” he said.
The two candidates agreed that CUC’s power division should be privatized to improve the power situation on the islands.
But Hofschneider said there should be an open  procurement process when transferring the power plants to the private sector’s hands.
“We should have a transparent procurement process. It’s too big of an asset and value that greed may set in,” he said.
According to the governor, politics marred his efforts to bring the private sector to CUC.
“I’ve been planning to privatize CUC since I became the governor. But the Legislature prevented my efforts to privatize CUC,” he said.