FSMIS (May 28, 2014): On May 22nd, Federated States of
Micronesia President Manny Mori transmitted to Congress a proposed amendment to
Section 1 of Article XIV of the FSM Constitution.
The proposal is to lower the vote required to ratify an
amendment to the FSM Constitution from a 75 percent of votes cast in 3/4 of the
States to 60 percent of votes in 3/4 of the States.
The President wrote, "Although a bill was introduced in
Congress on September
11, 2013, I regret that there has been no action taken on the bill and no
committee report filed. If it is approved by the 18th Congress, the
constitutional amendment is required to be placed on the ballot, preferably in
the March 2015 national election".
At the recently concluded State and National Leadership
Conference on May 22nd to 23rd, the very issue was part of the agenda. The FSM
Department of Justice did a presentation on the proposal showing that this
particular constitutional requirement needs revisiting as demographic
situations have drastically changed since the supreme law went into effect in
1979. At the meeting, many of the Leaders expressed that the required percentage
might have been set at a very difficult, allowing minority control over the
preference of a significant majority for too long.
"Effective public education is required to prepare the
Nation to make an intelligent decision on an issue of transcendental
importance. In this regard, it becomes imperative for the national Government to
set aside sufficient time a resources to organize and prepare the necessary
logistics", President Mori further indicated.
For more
information, contact the Public Information Office at 320-2548 or email
fsmpio@mail.fm.
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