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Dan MacMeekin         Attorney at Law        Washington, DC, USA

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Analysis of the Fourteen Proposed Amendments 

to the FSM Constitution (as amended) 

by John R. Haglelgam

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[Dual Citizenship]

[56.5% of the voters in the August 27, 2002, referendum voted in favor of this amendment.  A 75% affirmative vote was required to pass the amendment, so the amendment failed.]

2. Committee Proposal No. 01-2:

This proposal will amend Article III of the FSM Constitution to allow FSM citizens to acquire an additional citizenship, i.e., a dual citizenship. The new Section 2 reads "All persons born of parents one or both of whom are citizens of the Federated States of Micronesia or naturalized as citizens of the Federated States of Micronesia are citizens of the Federated States of Micronesia." The new Section 3 is the gist of this proposal, which reads "All citizens of the Federated States of Micronesia may be a citizen of another nation, and shall not be deprived of his Federated States of Micronesia citizenship by exercising his citizenship rights of the other nation. This section applies retroactively."

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ANALYSIS:

In comparison with the current provision for citizenship in the FSM Constitution, the language used in the new Section 2 is much broader and all encompassing. The new Section 3 in the proposal will allow the FSM citizens who are born in the United States to have a dual citizenship. Any citizen of the FSM born of one United States citizen parent may claim dual citizenship under this proposal. The coverage of this proposed amendment includes citizens of other countries. For instance, a Filipino citizen of the FSM can return to the Philippines and obtain a Philippines citizenship without losing his FSM citizenship.

This proposal will make it possible for the FSM citizens who volunteered for the United States armed forces to obtain United States citizenship without losing their FSM citizenship. If adopted, this proposed amendment would take effect retroactively. It is not clear in the proposal when it will be retroactive to. However, there is a good argument to make that it retroactive to the effective date of the FSM Constitution.

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Most troublesome about this proposed amendment is its impact on land ownership in this country. It may allow a whole new class of citizens to claim title to land although they have not been residing here for many years. On the other hand, this proposal will make it possible for those Micronesians who currently cannot claim title to their land because they are non-citizens to assert their rights to own the land.

The main issue for the voters to decide is whether to allow FSM citizens to be eligible for citizenship of other countries or citizens of other countries eligible for FSM citizenship.

©  John R. Haglelgam, March 4, 2002

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