Rift widens in critical Pacific body
07 February, 2021
The Pacific Islands Discussion board leadership rift widened on Sunday (Feb 7) as the Marshall Islands voiced its disapproval with the central political body in an area where the USA and China are competing for influence.
Palau has already announced it is taking out of the organisation and can meet up with the Marshall Islands and other Micronesian members of the discussion board on Monday to go over what has been described as "an enormous fracture" found in regional unity.
The row erupted on Thursday, when the Micronesian applicant to be the organisation's up coming secretary-general was rejected in favour of former Cook Islands premier Henry Puna, after a virtual assembly of leaders from the 18-member body.
The five Micronesian states - Palau, the Marshall Islands, Kiribati, Nauru, and the Federated Claims of Micronesia - had argued it was their turn to fill the post under a casual arrangement which has stood for decades.
"We must reassess our relationship with the PIF. They ignored the 'gentlemen's arrangement' and we can not take it any more," Marshall Islands Foreign Minister Casten Nemra said.
The PIF is composed mainly of small Pacific island states along with Australia and New Zealand, and is a key aspect of the US allies' diplomatic efforts in your community.
However, any sort of division in the forum's ranks could offer an beginning for China to improve its influence with the sparsely populated but strategically important nations.
Micronesian nations have long felt their north Pacific island states have been neglected towards their larger and additional influential neighbours on the south.
"What we have seen is a good south Pacific that appears down on the north Pacific and we come across that deeply unfortunate," Federated States of Micronesia President David Panuelo advised Australian radio found in the wake of the leadership vote.
"It's a huge fracture in the (forum's) unity and spirit of cooperation."
Marshall Islands opposition MP David Paul pressed for his nation to check out Palau and withdraw, saying that to do nothing would make sure they are "the laughing inventory of the forum, and our (Micronesian) neighbours won't trust us."
However, Foreign Minister Nemra indicated there could be other courses of actions.
"We shouldn't grab, but we must analysis our participation," he explained.
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