Micronesian leaders have received an apology from their colleagues in the Pacific Islands Forum.
In what has been described as a frank and open political dialogue on Monday the Forum leaders aimed to heal the wounds caused by the selection of the Cook Islands’ Henry Puna as the new secretary-general of the agency.
Micronesia’s leaders believed they had a commitment that their candidate, Gerald Zackios from the Marshall Islands, would be named secretary-general.
In February, the five Micronesian members of the Forum announced they would leave in protest at the selection.
But in a virtual meeting, dubbed the Troika Plus dialogue, on Monday, the Micronesian leaders heard apologies from Papua New Guinea’s James Marape, Fiji’s Voreqe Bainimarama, Samoa’s Tuila’epa Sa’ilele Mailielegaoi and the outgoing Secretary-General Dame Meg Taylor.