Senate President Mlib Tmetuchl in an interview said that Senate Bill 8-122 was rejected by majority of the senators during the second reading.
“The bill did not have enough votes and majority of the senators believed that options cannot be limited to Palauans only,” Tmetuchl said.
There were eight who voted against the bill and four in favor of the bill.
Voting for the measure are Sens. Tmetuchl, Hokkons Baules, Regis Akitaya and the author of the bill Adalbert Eledui.
The measure stated that although there are no explicit qualifications for ambassadors representing Palau to foreign nations or international organizations but “hundreds of years of diplomatic practice has established an expectation that an ambassador hold citizenship from anation he or she represents.”
The measure said that with a non-citizen ambassador the level of commitment to a nation is not the same.
The bill said that an ambassador representing Palau should be a citizen of Palau or a graduate of college or university.
