Pacific Is Forum set to splinter
Leadership vote alienates nations
SYDNEY/WELLINGTON: Five Pacific island nations will start withdrawing from the region’s main political forum, according to a joint statement, in the fallout from a fractious leadership vote last week.
The presidents of Nauru, the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), Kiribati, Marshall Islands and Palau said an informal agreement to elect a new chief diplomat from their Micronesia subregion was not honoured.
The impending withdrawals from the Pacific Island Forum (PIF) would reduce the number of members to 13 and leave the group dominated by South Pacific nations such as Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Australia and New Zealand.
‘‘There is no value in participating in an organisation that does not respect established agreements, including the gentlemen’s agreement on subregional rotation,’’ said the statement, sent after a virtual meeting of the Micronesian country leaders on Monday.
Former Cook Islands prime minister Henry Puna won the tightlycontested vote last week to become the forum’s new secretarygeneral.
Puna defeated Micronesia’s Gerald Zackious, the Marshall Islands ambassador to the United States, by nine votes to eight.
PIF chair Kausea Natano, from Tuvalu, said last week the result was a ‘‘consensus decision’’ that followed an agreed process.
The dispute represents one of the biggest member revolts in the 50year history of the forum, which has consistently lobbied larger nations to combat climate change that threatens their lowlying islands.
Most island nation governments also face severe economic headwinds, due to their heavy reliance on international tourism, which abruptly shut last year due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The sparsely populated islands are strategic locations that have in recent years become a battleground for influence between China and the US and its allies.
However, the withdrawal process is expected to take about a year, and in the joint statement the leaders said the final decision rested with individual governments.
Regional experts believe the communique leaves room to move and are hoping Pacific leaders breach the divide and reunite the organisation.
New Zealand’s foreign minister Nanaia Mahuta attended last week’s meeting, where they were aware the subregional group felt strongly about its nominated candidate getting the secretarygeneral’s post.
Holding the longdelayed summit via video conferencing made for a different kind of meeting. Consensus on the appointment of a successor to Papua New Guinea’s Dame Meg Taylor could not be reached by the usual discussion.
But Mahuta said she believed the voting process was geared towards getting consensus on the best person for the role.
She said it was not until after the meeting that it became evident Micronesian leaders were intent on leaving the forum altogether.
‘‘It’s regrettable that the Micronesian states have signalled that they intend to pull away.
‘‘I expect that there’ll be a high level of conversation amongst leaders to see whether or not we can work to bring everybody into the regional collaboration through the PIF.’’ — Reuters/ AAP/RNZ