It went down to the wire, but it looks as if the threatened break-up of the Pacific Islands Forum has been averted. Subject to final approval when the forum leaders meet in Fiji next week, an agreement has been brokered that everyone can accept. This means the ‘Micronesian Five’ (Federated States of Micronesia, Kiribati, Nauru, Palau and the Republic of the Marshall Islands) will remain members of the region’s apex political organisation.
These countries had previously activated (and then paused) procedures to give up their forum membership. This was in response to a February 2021 vote in which the position of secretary-general was given to Henry Puna of Cook Islands in preference to Ambassador Gerald Zackios of Marshall Islands. Ambassador Zackios had been put forward as the Micronesian candidate on the basis that it was Micronesia's ‘turn’ to hold the senior leadership position at the forum’s secretariat, in Suva. This in turn stemmed from an informal agreement that was made in 2013 when Micronesia agreed to support Dame Meg Taylor as secretary-general in preference to a Micronesian candidate. Zackios had been identified by Marshall Islands well in advance of the vote in February of last year.
Negotiated by a subgroup of the regional leadership who met in person in Suva in early June, the agreement has several aspects. Mr Puna will step down as secretary-general in 2024. He will be succeeded by a Micronesian, who will serve a five-year term. Going forward, the secretary-general position will rotate between the three subgroups of the region – Melanesia, Micronesia and Polynesia. In addition, there will be three deputy secretary-generals in the forum’s secretariat, one from each of the Pacific subregions. There will also be a sub-office of the secretariat in the northern part of the region.
