Several Countries Withdraw From Pacific Islands Forum

Leaders meet in-person at the 48th Pacific Islands Forum in 2017 (Wikimedia Commons).

The leaders of Nauru, the Federated States of Micronesia, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, and Palau issued a joint communique on February 8, stating their intention to initiate the formal process of leaving the Pacific Islands Forum, Radio New Zealand reports.

The Pacific Islands Forum is the Pacific’s most influential regional body. The decision to quit the organization is triggered by the appointment of a new Secretary General. The Forum needs a new appointment, as current Secretary General Dame Meg Taylor is ready to return home to Papua New Guinea after the six-year term. The forum’s Secretary General would be the region’s chief diplomat and bureaucrat. Henry Puna, former Cook Islands prime minister, became the new Secretary General of the Forum by a one vote margin (9-8), ahead of Marshall Islands’ diplomat Gerald Zackios, the candidate put forward by the five-state Micronesian bloc. 

Voting, however, is not the usual practice. Peter O’Neill, Papua New Guinea’s former prime minister, said, “We always want to reach consensus decisions the Pacific way through compromise. Taking votes was never something that was encouraged at the Forum Leaders level.”

The Forum has instead generally followed the convention of a “gentlemen’s agreement,” to rotate the secretary general role by sub-region: Polynesia, Melanesia, and Micronesia. This time it is Micronesia’s turn. 

“Leaders who are new to this tradition need to learn to appreciate and respect this for the sake of solidarity and unity within the Pacific,” said Peter O’Neill, a veteran of numerous Forum leaders’ summits.

Palau President Surangel Whipps Jr. said, “If we cannot honor our commitments, we need to think about other alternatives, which is we need to move out of this relationship.”

Jonathan Pryke, director of the Pacific Islands Program at the Lowy Institute told the Guardian, “Unlike the United Nations, the Pacific is such a tight-knit community. The island leaders are accustomed to seeing each other regularly to talk through and think through decisions.” The unprecedented virtual setting of the meeting this year contributed to the failure to reach a consensus; the lack of a more personal connection and communication between the members. Pryke concludes, “The significance of face-to-face meetings cannot be underestimated in the Pacific, for it is, in large part, the essence of the ‘Pacific Way.’”

Such a fracture has serious consequences at a critical time for the Pacific Islands region. The countries’ economies have taken a massive hit due to COVID-19 travel shutdowns, and its islands are facing the existential challenge of a global climate emergency. It will take a year for these five countries to complete secession formalities, and the door is not entirely closed yet. As coordination and consensus are necessary for remote island countries to overcome these challenges, it is urgent to find an effective leadership with broad support and authority across the regions. Dalton Tagelagi, premier from Niue, an island country near New Zealand, acknowledged that countries are free to make their own choices but he said, “We are strongest when we are together.”