Big decisions facing new-look PIF leadership

The Pacific Islands Forum Leaders Meeting begins in Tonga with many big questions, ranging from the region’s banking crisis to New Caledonia’s unrest.

The 53rd Pacific Islands Forum gets underway in Tonga this week, taking place in the shadow of immense change and transition in the region. Climate change continues to wreak havoc across the Pacific, but PIF members are also facing a reckoning of another sort as Western banks exit the region in droves.

This matter will be navigated under new leadership as the former Nauru president Baron Waqa helms his first PIF as secretary general, replacing the outgoing Henry Puna from the Cook Islands.

Appointing a Micronesian candidate is one of the many ways PIF is trying to smooth over relations with the subregion, after five Micronesian states threatened to walk out in 2021 over perceived inequalities within the grouping.

The banking question is emblematic of many big questions to be addressed at the meeting.

The exodus of Western banks has opened the door for China to fill the void — something they’ve already started doing with the Pacific’s ailing media industry.

PIF will also seek to address the situation in New Caledonia, which has been marred with unrest since the French government attempted to push through a constitutional amendment in May.

It appears that the New Caledonia independence movement is hitting a flashpoint and PIF serves as an important arena to determine how committed the broader region is to supporting their cause.

Meanwhile, the Forum will also serve as a high-level follow up to the 15th Triennial Conference of Pacific Women, the latest gathering seeking to address the plight of marginalised gender identities in the region. Despite progress made over the past few decades, women still face enormous challenges in all facets from health, education, employment and security.