FORUM PRAISES OUR PM

He was a key figure and played a pivotal role, says Secretary-General Dame Meg Taylor

Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama has been praised as a key player in this week’s Pacific Islands Forum in Funafuti, Tuvalu.

His return to the forum after an absence of more than 10 years created a positive and powerful impact.

The forum’s Secretary-General Dame Meg Taylor said Mr Bainimarama was the key player in this year’s meeting.

“He was very forthcoming and frank with leaders. Mr Bainimarama had played a very pivotal role in tonight’s (Thursday) discussion,” Dame Meg said.

She was echoing the sentiments of many leaders. It is understood that he played a crucial role in bringing the leaders of the forum to come to an important decision on Thursday night.

Some negotiators at the meeting praised

Mr Bainimarama with the way he reassured leaders in the room.

A senior Fijian delegation member described him as a “Pillar of Strength” to other Pacific leaders.

When discussions were not going any where, he brought the leaders back on track.

“He was like a buoy that kept the nets afloat, so when talks began to go down Mr Bainimarama held the leaders up,” he said. During the break when talks had reached a deadlock, Mr Bainimarama went up to the Prime Minister of Tuvalu, Enele Sopoaga and other Pacific leaders and reassured them.

He said “this is the fight of our lives, and if we fail, we might as well just pack up and leave.”

This was really an important point, the talks hanging on a thin thread.

The talks nearly broke down.

Since he arrived in Funafuti last Sunday on board a military aircraft, he had been empowering the leaders to speak out and make their case on climate change.

Fiji has won the bid to host the 52nd Pacific Islands Forum meeting in 2021.