Constitutional Convention elections were held in the

Marshall Islands The Marshall Islands, officially the Republic of the Marshall Islands, is an island country west of the International Date Line and north of the equator in the Micronesia region of the Northwestern Pacific Ocean. The territory consists of 29 c ...

on 21 February 2017.Voters stay home
Marshall Islands Journal, 23 July 2017

Background

A constitutional convention is used in the Marshall Islands to consider proposed constitutional amendments that have been endorsed by the

Legislature A legislature (, ) is a deliberative assembly with the legal authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country, nation or city on behalf of the people therein. They are often contrasted with the executive and judicial power ...

. The convention cannot propose new amendments and can only debate those approved by the parliament. Previous conventions had been held in

1977 Events January * January 8 – 1977 Moscow bombings, Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (no ...

1989 1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...

and

1995 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...

. While more were added after the election, the proposed changes for the 2017 Constitutional Convention initially included: *Direct election of the

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

. *Creating the position of Vice-President. *Stopping the Legislature removing the President, Vice-President and Cabinet from office by

motion of no confidence A motion or vote of no confidence (or the inverse, a motion or vote of confidence) is a motion and corresponding vote thereon in a deliberative assembly (usually a legislative body) as to whether an officer (typically an executive) is deemed fi ...

. *Requiring presidential candidates to be a natural-born citizen. *Reserving six seats in the Legislature for women. *Requiring automatic rejection of

appropriation bill An appropriation bill, also known as supply bill or spending bill, is a proposed law that authorizes the expenditure of government funds. It is a bill that sets money aside for specific spending. In some democracies, approval of the legislature ...

s that do not provide a

balanced budget A balanced budget (particularly that of a government) is a budget in which revenues are equal to expenditures. Thus, neither a budget deficit nor a budget surplus exists (the accounts "balance"). More generally, it is a budget that has no budge ...

. *Protection from sexual discrimination being enshrined in the Bill of Rights. *Creation of an

ombudsman An ombudsman ( , also ) is a government employee who investigates and tries to resolve complaints, usually through recommendations (binding or not) or mediation. They are usually appointed by the government or by parliament (often with a sign ...

's office. *Empowering the Attorney General to ask an independent body to investigate possible cases of fraud, corruption or unethical behaviour by elected officials and other high-ranking officials. *Increasing the number of members of the Council of Iroij by one. *Introducing a constitutional ban on the sale of land except where the lineage of the ' (clan) owning the land is extinct.

Electoral system

The 45 members of the Constitutional Convention consisted of 33 directly-elected delegates elected from the 33 Legislature districts, and 12 Iroijs (chiefs).Brief Overview of Political Development in the Republic of the Marshall Islands
RMI Constitutional Convention Postal voting was not allowed.

Campaign

A total of 119 candidates contested the 33 directly-elected seats, whilst 24 ran for the 12 seats reserved for the Iroijs. All but seven of the thirty-three members of the Legislature ran for election to the convention.Marshalls candidates gear for Con-Con election
Marianas Variety, 23 December 2016

Results

Aftermath

The Constitutional Convention opened in April 2017. Kessai Note was elected as the body's President, defeating

Christopher Loeak Iroijlaplap Christopher Jorebon Loeak (born 11 November 1952) is a Marshallese politician who was the President of the Marshall Islands from 2012 to 2016. He was elected by parliament as President in January 2012, following the 2011 general el ...

by a vote of 22–21.Long-awaited Con-Con starts
Marshall Islands Journal, 20 April 2017 After a long pause due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the works of the convention was finally put to a referendum on 25 April 2025.

References

{{Marshall Islands elections Elections in the Marshall Islands

Marshall Marshall may refer to: Places Australia *Marshall, Victoria, a suburb of Geelong, Victoria ** Marshall railway station Canada * Marshall, Saskatchewan * The Marshall, a mountain in British Columbia Liberia * Marshall, Liberia Marshall Is ...

2017 in the Marshall Islands Election and referendum articles with incomplete results