Constitutional Convention elections were held in 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 Inte ...

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 an assembly with the authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country or city. They are often contrasted with the executive and judicial powers of government. Laws enacted by legislatures are usually known ...

. 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 – 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 (now the Democrat ...

1989 File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress Street Viaduct, Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxo ...

and

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is O. J. Simpson murder case, acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the 1994, year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The ...

. 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: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

. *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 of no confidence, also variously called a vote of no confidence, no-confidence motion, motion of confidence, or vote of confidence, is a statement or vote about whether a person in a position of responsibility like in government or mana ...

. *Requiring presidential candidates to be a natural-born citizen. *Reserving six seats in the Legislature for women. *Requiring automatic rejection of appropriation bills 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 ,), ombud, ombuds, ombudswoman, ombudsperson or public advocate is an official who is usually appointed by the government or by parliament (usually with a significant degree of independence) to investigate complaints and at ...

'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 Kessai Hesa Note (born August 7, 1950 in Ailinglaplap) was President of the Marshall Islands from 2000 to 2008. Elected in 1979 alongside Litokwa Tomeing, Note is one of the two longest-serving members of Nitijeļā. He was the Minister of Inter ...

was elected as the body's President, defeating

Christopher Loeak 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 election. Per ...

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 20 November 2023.

References

{{Marshall Islands elections Elections in the Marshall Islands

Marshall Marshall may refer to: Places Australia * Marshall, Victoria, a suburb of Geelong, Victoria Canada * Marshall, Saskatchewan * The Marshall, a mountain in British Columbia Liberia * Marshall, Liberia Marshall Islands * Marshall Islands, an i ...

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