Micronesia
p. 20 · Read in the full issue
Talks
Talks between the United States and Micronesia on the future status of the trust territory were resumed on Saipan on May 31. The last meeting was in November when the 90-day constitutional convention ended with the production of an agreed preamble to a constitution. Since then the Micronesians, less the Marianas which has become a commonwealth of the United States, have formed a new Joint Com mittee on Future Status and this com mittee, headed by Palau Senator Lazarus Salii and Marshalls delegate Ekpap Silk, met President Ford’s personal represen tative, Ambassador Franklyn Haydn Williams, who had arrived the previous day on Saipan. The talks are aimed at completing the draft compact of free association.
If the Congress of Micronesia approves the completed draft at its special July meeting, it will then be put to the vote of the electorate in the Marshalls and Carolines in November. There are no declared plans for the fate of the draft if the congress rejects it.