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Creation of Committee to Educate the Public Regarding Upcoming Referendum

Palikir, Pohnpei (FSM Information Services): June 16, 2010 - In March 2011, the citizens of FSM will not only be voting for new members of Congress, they will also have the opportunity to vote on two key amendments to the FSM Constitution: Amendment No.1 allowing for dual citizenship, and Amendment No. 2 providing that all members of Congress shall be elected for a 4 year term.

The current Section 3, Article III of the FSM Constitution provides that a citizen with dual citizenship has to actively register his intent to remain an FSM citizen and renounce his citizenship of another nation; failure to register, automatically makes the citizen a national of the FSM. Current Section 8, Article IX of the FSM Constitution provides that Congress members elected at large serve for four year terms and all other congress members serve a two year term.

In order to prepare for this upcoming referendum, on April 13, 2010, President Mori created a task force which will be responsible for organizing programs and activities to help educate the general public. This task force, also known as the Committee on Public Education for Constitutional Amendments (CPECA), is comprised of eight members: Dr. Rufino Mauricio, Chairman of the Committee, Samari Suta, Co-Chair, Jesse Giltamag, Secretary, Arthy Nena, Treasurer, Kandhi Elieisar, Dionis Saimon, Mathew Chigiyal and Arthur Albert.

Earlier, in March 2010, a law was passed by Congress and President Mori to appropriate the sum of $150,000 for the operational budget of the CPECA. The Committee held their first meeting on May 13, 2010, their proposed budget and potential programs were discussed. All future programs and activities of the Committee will be publicized in The National Union.