Nauru, Palau, Kiribati, Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), and Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) are still quitting the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) unless the forum leaders honor a long-standing agreement that its Micronesian’s turn to head the forum’s Secretariat.
The forum leaders’ virtual meeting last Friday to commemorate the 50th anniversary was not enough to convince Micronesia to forgo plans of leaving the forum.
In a statement by Nauru’s President, Nauru’s President, Lionel Aingimea, and chair of the Micronesian Presidents’ Summit (MPS) said the Micronesia leaders are “standing on the principles of the Mekreos Communique, are not attending the retreat.”
An in-person retreat of the forum leaders is scheduled in 2022 in Fiji.
“The Mekreos Communique articulates that if the long-standing Gentlemen’s Agreement is not honored, then the Micronesian Presidents see no benefit in remaining with PIF,” President Angimea said in a statement.
Forum Chair, Fiji’s Frank Bainarama offered an apology to Micronesia during the meeting, the second apology he made in an attempt to heal the fracture in the four.
“To our Micronesian brothers, I offer my deepest apologies. We could have handled the situation better,” he said.
In the meeting, only Nauru attended, saying in a later statement that President Aingimea is representing the sub-region in the discussion.
Prime Minister of Tuvalu Kausea Natano who was the forum chair when the rift ensued said he is hopeful for continued dialogue with Micronesia.
“Let me be clear in my belief that the way forward for this matter requires the same approach: a continued dialogue about what we each seek, compromise for the greater regional good, the reaching of consensus based on our Pacific ways and traditions, and ultimately unity and solidarity,”
“Fellow leaders let me go further and reiterate my belief that unity and solidarity for us is not simply a nicety, but a necessity, placed upon us by the extraordinary and unprecedented circumstances which we face, shaped by our own history and the conditions confronting the globe such as that of tCOVID-19 and climate change. And it is in the context of these challenges that we must think and act not as individual small Island States not as Micronesia, Polynesia, and Melanesia, but as a single interconnected one Blue Pacific Continent. On this basis, Honourable Leaders, I urge that each of us continue to engage in the political dialogue mechanism process with this strategic imperative firmly in mind,” Prime Minister Natano said before he turned over the forum chairmanship to Fiji.” he added.
US President Joe Biden also attended the meeting of the Pacific leaders who vowed to cut carbon emissions to reduce impacts of climate change.
“The United States is committed to dramatically reducing our emissions by 2030 and building resilience into vulnerable communities globally,” Biden said in a pre-recorded speech.
Despite the rift, leaders said that discussions of the meeting center on cline change and COVID-19 economic recovery.
The leaders have also agreed to come out with a declaration to ask the UN to effectively freeze existing maritime boundaries in the region, as sea level rises to drown the island nations. (B. Carreon)
I AGREE WITH MICRONESIA’S POSITION. If others cannot honor a ‘gentlemen’s agreement’, then what else will they not honor.