Well, whether you’re for the Dual Citizenship or not, one thing no one denies is the fact that the majority of FSM people are for it. Every state voted for it! If this is the case, then why in the world it didn’t pass?As the supporters pointed out, the framers of the FSM constitution made it hard to change what they did, and for good reasons, there they required a threshold of 75% in each state for the state to pass an amendment. So even though every state went above 50%, only Kosrae tops the 75% the FSM constitution required thereby losing 1-3.

Now, we start to hear voices of voting to amend the constitution to lower that threshold. I for one is not sure it’s a good idea and I do not have the space to explain the reasons but I would be for it if it only applies to the Dual Citizenship and not a permanent change to the constitution. In other words, if it’s just a temporary change, then I would be for it. 

I do not think changing the threshold is necessary. I believe the Congress should do a better job educating the public. I for one didn’t know there’s going to be a vote to amend the constitution until only a few months before the election. Few months is not enough to educate the public, especially on such an important and complicated matter. 

There are several things that scare people back home. What would you do if someone tells you that foreigners would be allowed to own lands if Dual Citizenship is allowed? What would one do if told by a former president that “this proposed amendment is an empowerment of the FSM Congress and disempowerment of the FSM public and voters.?” What would one do if someone tells you CHANGE is coming? 

Land is a very limited resource back home. It would be scary to loose yours to someone from a foreign land. It’s true the perception of our FSM Congress is not something to be proud of and certainly very suspicious to many voters so when a former president says they are out to get you, boy you better do everything to stop them from doing so. Change is hard of course, especially to our folks back home. But time is changing and I am sure most of our people understood what’s at stake. 

So before we do another move on this issue, let’s ask our FSM Congress to allocate some money and give some time for more public education on this matter. Both sides of the debate can then be allowed to showcase their side of the deal and hopefully, more than 75% of our people will come to realize that the benefits outweigh the cons on this particular issue. Please CLICK HERE to read more on this issue.