Justice Held Hostage

John Haglelgam

During its most recent special session in August, the Federated States of Micronesia Congress disapproved the nominations of Paul McIlrath for Secretary of Justice, Patrick Mackenzie for Secretary of Economic Affairs, and Kandhi Elieisar for FSM ambassador to Japan.

McIlrath is not new to the FSM. He headed the Department of Justice during the administration of Pres. Leo Falcam. Political observers believe that McIlrath's nomination was turned down because his office secured convictions and indictments against some municipal officials in Chuuk and against a national senator from the same state. In addition, the Department of Justice is continuing its investigation of several members of the Chuuk congressional delegation for alleged wrongdoing in public office.

Is McIlrath abusing his legal authority by investigating and indicting municipal officials and members of Chuuk congressional delegation? The obvious answer is no. McIlrath is being punished for upholding his oath of office and for faithfully enforcing national laws.

The senators who fear the ongoing investigation banded together to reject McIlrath's nomination. The Congress has in effect signaled its intention not to tolerate investigations and indictment of its members and their supporters.

This brings to fore the problem of retaining members in Congress who are indicted or under investigation. These senators clearly have a conflict of interest in the vote to approve the nomination of the Secretary of Justice. They could have recused themselves from voting, but they did not.

Perhaps they want to send a message to the president that they want the next chief law enforcement officer in the nation to be someone who would be more sympathetic to their plight. With their powerful voting block, these Congress members can simply continue to defeat any nomination until the president submits a nominee to their liking.

If this happens, it would mean the betrayal of the public trust inherent in their positions as members of the highest lawmaking body in the FSM and tantamount to holding the administration hostage. Additionally, it will be in direct contravention to the intention of the framers of the FSM Constitution with respect to the checks and balances among the branches of the national government.

The members of Congress are entrusted with a broad discretionary power to examine the qualifications of presidential nominees for public offices. Although no constitutional limitation is imposed on the exercise of this power, the members of Congress are restrained by the moral and ethical standards of democratic practice and good governance. This power is certainly not intended to be used for members' personal protection or aggrandizement.

These particular members should quit Congress and prepare their legal defense to prove their innocence. By using Congress as their first line of legal defense, they are ruining the already-tarnished reputation of that body.

The other two nominees, Elieisar and Mackenzie, were rejected because they are close political associates of the current vice president, who is also from Chuuk. There is nothing wrong with being associates of the vice president. They are just simply on the wrong side of the political fence in Chuuk.

This is a projection of Chuukese politics onto the national scene, which is a troublesome development because it can bring gridlock and paralysis, conflict of interest and bad governance to the national government on the same scale that we witness in Chuuk. But the greatest danger lies in its potential to destabilize the nation and cause a national drift, leading FSM toward becoming a "failed state."

The other three FSM states know that the restrictive reporting requirements under Compact II with the U.S. are in direct response to the misuse of Compact I funds in Chuuk. One more negative impact on national governance from this particular state might just cause irreparable damage to national unity.