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FSM commemorates Constitution's silver anniversary

Palikir, POHNPEI (FSM Information Services): May 7, 2004 - The commemoration ceremony has been scheduled for 9am, Monday - May 10 2004 at Palikir, to celebrate the 25^th Anniversary of the Constitution of the Federated States of Micronesia.

The modest ceremony is being coordinated through the national and Pohnpei State governments. Invitation has been sent to the heads of the previous Administrations of the FSM government to join the commemoration.

It is anticipated that the commemoration would be shared throughout the Federation via a "live-broadcast" service, courtesy of the FSM Telecommunications Corporation. The FSMTC has also established a link on it's website: www.fm, to avail the commemoration of the FSM Constitution to FSM citizens abroad.

The FSM Constitution was drafted by the Micronesian Constitutional Convention in 1975 in Saipan. The Convention was convened by the Congress of Micronesia, which at that time included representation from the Ponape, Kusaie, Truk, and Yap Districts of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands (TTPI), and also included the Marshall Islands, Palau, and the Northern Mariana Islands Districts.

The FSM Constitution was ratified in 1978, with the voters of the Ponape, Kusaie, Truk, and Yap Districts approving the Constitution. The ratification of the Constitution by these four districts recognized their sovereign right to form the Federated States of Micronesia and make the FSM Constitution the supreme law of the land.

On May 10 1979, the FSM Constitution entered into force.