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President Mori appoints "acting" Secretaries for the Department of Justice and the Department of Finance and Administration for sixty days

Palikir, Pohnpei (FSM Information Services): December 19, 2011 - Starting on December 12, Assistant Attorney General Steve Y. George and Mrs. Rose Nakanaga were designated by President Manny Mori as "acting" Secretaries for the Department of Justice and the Department of Finance and Administration for the a duration of sixty days.

President Mori wrote in a December 12 memorandum to all departments, offices and agencies that the designations for Assistant Attorney General George and Mrs. Nakanaga were made due to vacancies for each position "whose appointment is subject to advice and consent of Congress".

The denied nominations for the highest roles at the two departments have gone through two consecutive sessions of Congress but fell short of getting required votes from that legislative body, prompting the appointment of the "acting" capacities for sixty days or shorter, base on the President's discretion, pursuant to law.

Acting Secretary Nakanaga graduated from the Central Michigan University in the United States with a B.A. in Business Administration, majoring in Finance. She has been with the department since 1980, starting out in the Treasury Division until her appointment as Assistant Secretary of the Division of Investment. She has intermittently served as Acting Secretary since November 2010 after the then Secretary, Mr. Finley Perman, resigned.

Assistant Attorney General George has been with the Department of Justice, Division of Litigation, since January 2009. He had graduated from the South Pacific School of Law in Vanuatu in 2003 after getting his B.S. degree in Political Science from the University of Hawaii - Hilo.

If the sixty days duration is not cut shorter, the appointment for Acting Secretary George and Acting Secretary Nakanaga would end on February 10, 2012.