Parliamentary elections were held in the

Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands The Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands (TTPI) was a United Nations trust territory in Micronesia administered by the United States from 1947 to 1994. History Spain initially claimed the islands that later composed the territory of the Trus ...

on 19 January 1965.

Background

Constitutional changes for the Trust Territory were made by an order from the US Secretary of the Interior on 28 September 1964. A bicameral

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of a ...

was established, with a 12-member House of Delegates (later renamed the Senate) with two members from each of the six

districts A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...

and a 21-member General Assembly (later renamed the House of Representatives) with seats apportioned to each district based on their population – five from Truk, four from the

Marshall Islands The Marshall Islands ( mh, Ṃajeḷ), officially the Republic of the Marshall Islands ( mh, Aolepān Aorōkin Ṃajeḷ),'' () is an independent island country and microstate near the Equator in the Pacific Ocean, slightly west of the Internati ...

and

Ponape Ponape may refer to: * Pohnpei, an island in the Federated States of Micronesia * ''Ponape'' (barque), a German sailing ship {{disambiguation ...

, three from the

Mariana Islands The Mariana Islands (; also the Marianas; in Chamorro: ''Manislan Mariånas'') are a crescent-shaped archipelago comprising the summits of fifteen longitudinally oriented, mostly dormant volcanic mountains in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, betw ...

and

Palau Palau,, officially the Republic of Palau and historically ''Belau'', ''Palaos'' or ''Pelew'', is an island country and microstate in the western Pacific. The nation has approximately 340 islands and connects the western chain of the Caro ...

and two from

Yap Yap ( yap, Waqaab) traditionally refers to an island group located in the Caroline Islands of the western Pacific Ocean, a part of Yap State. The name "Yap" in recent years has come to also refer to the state within the Federated States of Micro ...

. This replaced the previous

Council of Micronesia A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or natio ...

, which had been based outside the Trust Territory in

Guam Guam (; ch, Guåhan ) is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. It is the westernmost point and territory of the United States (reckoned from the geographic cent ...

. Future elections were to be held every two years in November of even-numbered years, with all members of the General Assembly and half the House of Delegates renewed at each election. In the 1965 elections, half the Delegates (one from each district) were elected for a term ending in January 1967 (following the 1966 elections) and the other half elected for a term ending in January 1969 (following the 1968 elections).

Campaign

A total of 94 candidates contested the elections, of which 28 were running in the House of Delegates elections, with six running in both Palau and Ponape, and four in the Marshalls, Marianas, Truk and Yap. Although voting was meant to take place even where there was only one candidate, a misunderstanding led to Bethwel Henry being returned unopposed without a vote.

Results

Of the 41,473 people thought to be eligible to vote, 35,506 registered to do so. Of these, 25,079 people voted.

Elected members

House of Delegates

General Assembly

Aftermath

Following the elections,

Tosiwo Nakayama was the first President of the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM). He served two terms from 1979 until 1987. Biography Nakayama was born on November 23, 1931, on Piserach Island, part of Nomwunweito Atoll in what is now Chuuk State. At the tim ...

was elected as the President of the House of Delegates.President Tosiwo Nakayama
Government of Micronesia On 15 October 1965

Dwight Heine Dwight Heine (12 October 1919 – 13 November 1984) was a Marshall Islands, Marshallese politician. He was both a member and speaker of the Legislature of the Marshall Islands, Marshall Islands Congress, Congress of Micronesia and the Congress of ...

resigned from Congress to become District Administrator of the Marshall Islands. A by-election was held in February and April 1966 which was won by Ekpap Silk.''Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands''
Office of United Nations Political Affairs, pp198–199 Smart Lampson died on 13 June 1966; Naosy Pitiol was appointed to complete his term by the Acting Truk District Administrator.

References

{{Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands elections 1965 elections in Oceania 1965 in the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands Elections in the Federated States of Micronesia Elections in the Marshall Islands Elections in Palau Elections in the Northern Mariana Islands January 1965 events in Oceania