Marshall Island’s No Confidence Motion For President Over Cryptocurrency Defeated
Marshall Islands parliament originally supported the introduction of a national digital currency called Sovereign (SOV) in February of this year to be used as an alternative currency alongside the US dollar. This was set to be conducted by a collaboration with Israeli startup Neema, who had reportedly convinced the Parliament that this project would bring about 30 million dollars, 50% which would eventually go to Neema. Barak Ben-Ezer, Neema’s said,
“as a practical matter, SOV […] becomes real money from a legal standpoint […] without capital gains tax, without a securities regulator claiming that the currency is stock. SOV is a sovereign currency like the dollar, the euro and the yen.”
Hilda Heine, the president of the republic of the Marshall Islands thus on November 12, had to face no confidence motion, which was very narrowly defeated as per the reports of Nikkei Asian Review, an English language publication focusing on Asia.
The no confidence motion reportedly resulted in a 16-16 split, which is just one vote short of an outcome that would result in the resignation of Heine from the office of president. Heine reportedly called this decision to support crypto as a “historic moment for our people.”
Nemra had been encouraging political divisions about the government’s apparent inability to properly investigate a 1 billion USD loss in the Marshall Islands Trust Fund.
There had been disagreement regarding the Chinese effort of converting the Robgelap atoll into an
special administrative zone including a tax-free port and offshore company registration. This the president felt would be a blow to the country’s sovereignty.
As per the declaration of the Finance Minister, Brenson Wase is now waiting to fulfil requirements and formalities with the IMF, UK and the USA before going ahead with the introduction of Sovereign.