Encouraging our Chuuk Executive Leadership to Stop the Chuuk Independence Movement. 

Why? Chuuk is not ready. Not yet. Tirow me Fairow, failimoch awesi ei independence movement. 

 

 

The Honorable Johnson Elimo                                  

Governor                                                                                

State of Chuuk

 

The Honorable Innocente Oneisom

Speaker, House of Representatives

Chuuk State Legislature

 

The Honorable Mark Mailo

President, Senate

Chuuk State Legislature

 Gentlemen:                            

 We, the people of the Northwest region of Chuuk who sign this Statement of Re-Affirmation in support of the Unity of the Federated States of Micronesia, respectfully call on your good offices to cease and desist this secession movement to take the State of Chuuk out of the Unity and Friendship of the Federated States of Micronesia.  Let it be known that some of those who join us in signing this Statement are our friends and families from the other regions of Chuuk. 

 With this secession, Chuuk is readying itself to sail straight into the eye of a gigantic storm.  It is never in the culture of our Lotowafeng people to refuse to welcome on board those who wish to help us to sail in times of great troubles, or to extend a helping hand for those who might be left behind stranded on a desolate beach.  In other words, we are not only exercising our civic rights and duties, we are gratefully appealing to you as well to honor and respect our cultural heritage.  In doing this, we are also maintaining Lotowafeng’s tradition of contributing, in whatever small amount, to the Unity and Friendship of our Nation since its birth.

 Chuuk has its own challenges.  In fact, there are many of them that deserve collective attention.  But we believe strongly that Secession is not the right course to address our problems, as we are at the stage of “etakin kenna” – that is to say, when the dreadful year 2023 is within sight or only a short distance away when we must put our best foot forward under very difficult circumstances.  Again, we respectfully beg leave to differ: we do not believe Secession is the correct sailing star for our fellow citizens of beloved Chuuk.

 Besides our individual reasons for advancing Unity by opposing the proposed Secession, we support the position taken by the 1st NW Leadership Conference on Polowat in 2015, which was recalled and reiterated during the 2nd NW Leadership on Pollap in 2017.  The position of the NW Leadership has been plain, concise, consistent, and unequivocal: to oppose the Secession and to put it to peaceful rest.

 Our Statement of Re-affirmation of Unity also reflects the statements by other NW officials, including our representative in the FSM Congress, who took the stand to declare his opposition to Secession and to call on his colleagues in the FSM Congress and the Chuuk State Legislature to join him doing the same.

 We urge you to support our Statement of Re-Affirmation of Unity.  In the same spirit, we request that you make sure that: 1) the public education program on the proposed Secession of Chuuk be comprehensive  -- that is, both pro and con sides of the Secession question, and not only one side, ne presented to the voters; and 2) that an independent team of electoral observers be present in Chuuk to observe and certify that the plebiscite is conducted fairly and orderly.

 We sincerely appreciate your support of the Statement and its related requests, so made in the name of the people of our beloved Northwest region and our equally beloved State of Chuuk as a whole, of which we are enormously proud as well.

                                               Very respectfully,

 Name  (Print)                           Name (Signature)            Island/Municipality in Chuuk