Political career
Urusemal was elected to four-year term in the Fifth Congress of the Federated States of Micronesia in 1987. He was elected as Yap's at-large representative. Urusemal rose to leadership positions during his parliamentary career. He served as Floor Leader for twelve years during the Seventh until the Twelfth FSM congresses.
During his political career representing Yap,Urusemal served on several congressional committees including Health,Education and Social Affairs and the Judiciary and Governmental Operations committees.
The president and vice president of the Federated States of Micronesia are elected directly by Congress and must be a duly elected member at the time of election. Due to the defeat of the then-incumbent president,Leo Falcam,in the previous elections,Falcam was unable to stand for re-election. On May 11,2003,Congress elected Urusemal as President and he took office immediately.
On May 11,2007,the 15th Congress convened. A new presidential election was held and Manny Mori was elected president. He likewise took office immediately.
The Federated States of Micronesia, or simply Micronesia, is an island country in Micronesia, a subregion of Oceania. The federation consists of four states—from west to east, Yap, Chuuk, Pohnpei and Kosrae—that are spread across the western Pacific. Together, the states comprise around 607 islands that cover a longitudinal distance of almost 2,700 km (1,700 mi) just north of the equator. They lie northeast of Indonesia and Papua New Guinea, south of Guam and the Marianas, west of Nauru and the Marshall Islands, east of Palau and the Philippines, about 2,900 km (1,800 mi) north of eastern Australia, 3,400 km (2,100 mi) southeast of Japan, and some 4,000 km (2,485 mi) southwest of the main islands of the Hawaiian Islands.
The politics of the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) takes place in a framework of a federal assembly-independent representative democratic republic. The President of the Federated States of Micronesia is both head of state and head of government. Executive power is exercised by the president and his cabinet, while legislative power is vested in both the president and the Congress. The judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature.
Tosiwo Nakayama was the first President of the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM). He served two terms from 1979 until 1987.
John Richard Haglelgam is a Micronesian former politician who served as the second President of the Federated States of Micronesia.
Chuuk State is one of the four states of the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM). It consists of several island groups: Namoneas, Faichuuk, the Hall Islands, Namonuito Atoll, Pattiw, and the Mortlock Islands. Chuuk is by far the FSM's most populous state, with 50,000 inhabitants on 120 square kilometers. Chuuk Lagoon is where most people live. Weno island, in the lagoon, is Chuuk's state capital and the country's biggest city. It may hold a referendum on independence in the near future, although this referendum has been repeatedly postponed.
The State of Yap is one of the four states of the Federated States of Micronesia, located in the westernmost portion of the country. The state borders Palau to the southwest, Guam to the north, and Chuuk State to the east. According to the state's population census carried out in 2020, the total population is 11,577 residing across a total area of 119.54 sq km, though a large majority of the area is water. The only town area in the state, Colonia, serves as the state capital.
The College of Micronesia-FSM (COM-FSM) is a public community college in the Federated States of Micronesia. It began operation in 1963 as the Micronesian Teacher Education Center.
Indirect presidential elections were held in the Federated States of Micronesia on May 11, 2007.
Emanuel "Manny" Mori is a Micronesian politician who served as President of the Federated States of Micronesia from 11 May 2007 to 11 May 2015.
Xavier High School is a private, Catholic coeducational college preparatory school high school run by the US East Province of the Society of Jesus on the island of Weno in Chuuk, Federated States of Micronesia. It was established by the Jesuits in 1952. It was the first high school in the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands. Bishop Thomas Feeney, S.J., D.D. from the New York Province of the Society of Jesus originally envisioned a minor seminary to train local clergy. Soon after, Xavier Seminary became the first college preparatory school in the Western Pacific.
Japanese Micronesians, also Nikkei Micronesians or Micronesians of Japanese descent, refers to citizens of the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) who are of Japanese descent and are members of the Japanese global diaspora known as the Nikkei (日系).
Parliamentary elections were held in the Federated States of Micronesia on 8 March 2011, alongside a three-part referendum. As there were no political parties, all 34 candidates ran as independents. For the first time in the country's history, two women ran for election, both in Chuuk State. However, neither was elected.
Wesley W. Simina is a Micronesian politician who has served as the president of the Federated States of Micronesia since 2023. He served as the governor of Chuuk State, one of the four states that constitute the Federated States of Micronesia, from July 2005 to July 2011.
Iris Green Falcam was an American-born Micronesian librarian, researcher and public servant. Falcam served as the First Lady of the Federated States of Micronesia from 1999 to 2003 during the tenure of her husband, former President Leo Falcam.
The office of the Governor of Chuuk is the highest elected position in the state of Chuuk, Federated States of Micronesia. The state was called Truk until 1989, so the title of this office prior to the change was Governor of Truk.
Robert Ruecho is a Micronesian politician and diplomat. Ruecho served as the Governor of Yap, one of the four states which make up the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), from 2003 to 2007. He became the Consul-General for FSM on neighboring Guam on October 17, 2011.
Gerson Jackson is a Micronesian politician and diplomat.
An independence referendum for Chuuk State to secede from the Federated States of Micronesia was originally scheduled to take place in March 2015. However, it has been delayed three times and it is uncertain if it will take place. The most populous of the four states within the FSM, Chuuk has high levels of unemployment and there are long-standing tensions over the distribution of funding within the FSM. Other concerns include political power within the federation and the preservation of cultural identity.
Parliamentary elections were held in the Federated States of Micronesia on 5 March 2019, alongside a referendum on calling a Constitutional Convention. All 14 seats in Congress were up for election, and all 13 incumbents standing for re-election were returned to Congress.
The separatist movement in the Faichuk Islands is a political movement calling for autonomy and independence for the Faichuk Islands located in the state of Chuuk, in the Federated States of Micronesia, a federal country also made up of the states of Kosrae, Pohnpei and Yap.
