Supporters of Utu Abe Malae for governor are working on a petition to send to the governor of the Northern Marianas to allow Utu to return to American Samoa so he can run for governor in 2012.
Utu is under contract as the executive director of the Commonwealth Utilities Corporation in CNMI.
The petition would request CNMI governor Benigno Fitial to allow Utu to be away from his job so he can run his gubernatorial campaign.
A meeting of Utu supporters was held at the weekend and the petition was one of the issues discussed.