Pacific Magazine > Daily News

Palau Names New Special Prosecutor

By David Miho in Koror
Saturday: August 23, 2008

An attorney with long experience in Palau has been named the country’s new Special Prosecutor by President Tommy Remengesau.

Mark Horlings, a former Palau attorney general and counsel to a previous president, is expected to assume his new position by November.

“He has extensive legal experience in a broad range of jobs including a great deal of criminal prosecutions experience” Remengesau said of Horlings, in a letter to Senate President Surangel Whipps. Horlings appointment must be approved by the Palau Senate.

Horlings was most recently head of the environmental enforcement unit for the state of Arizona. He served as Palau’s attorney general from 1989 to 1992, and also was counsel to former president Ngiratkel Etpison.

Horlings replaces Everett Walton, who resigned in April.

Horlings appointment may get caught up in Palau politics. A presidential primary election will be held on Sept. 13, which will narrow the field from four president-vice president teams to two. The general election will be held on Nov. 4.

The Senate could decide to hold off on Horlings appointment until after the election, when a new president could either support the move or name a new Special Prosecutor. One of the president candidates is Whipps, the Senate president. Remengesau cannot run for a third term, but is a candidate for the Palau Senate.