Woman replaces Tuiloma as Secretary General of Forum

The Pacific Islands has a new Secretary General. She is Dame Meg Taylor, of Papua New Guinea.

Dame Taylor takes over from outgoing Secretary, Tuiloma Neroni Slade, of Samoa, who completes his second term of office in October.

The new Secretary General was nominated by her country Papua New Guinea. She was chosen over competition from four other candidates including Kaliopate Tavola, of Fiji, Dr. Jimmie Rodgers, of the Solomon Islands, Tony de Brum, of the Republic of the Marshall Islands and Fabian Nimea, of the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM).

Dame Taylor is a lawyer by profession and former P.N.G Ambassador to the United States, who has worked with the World Bank group since 1999.

With regional organisations promoting transparency, there are a number of opaque elements to the process to outsiders, which is driven by the Pacific leaders themselves.

The process of selecting a new Secretary General is managed by the Forum chair, which rotates with each annual leaders meeting.

Outgoing Chair Christopher Loeak hosted last year’s meeting in the Marshall Islands and has been responsible for managing the process (the current Secretary-General and staff of the Forum Secretariat play no formal role in the process, but unsurprisingly have a keen interest in who will be their new boss!)

In the history of the regional organisation since the 1970s, there have been a number of unspoken agreements: while the best candidates step forward, past decisions have reflected an understanding that the position should rotate over time to reflect the vast, diverse membership of the region. The decades-long principle that only an islander should hold the top job (while Australians and New Zealanders might take the post of Deputy Secretary General) was abandoned a decade ago, when the Howard Government successfully promoted the candidacy of Australian diplomat Greg Urwin.

This year’s selection process was complicated by the late candidacy of RMI’s Tony de Brum – the other four candidates had met the official nomination deadline of 31 May, but Mr. de Brum only confirmed his much-discussed bid late in the piece.

According to the final communique of the 14t h Micronesian Presidents’ Summit, held in Pohnpei, FSM on 17-18 July 2014, RMI President Christopher Loeak, Palauan President Tommy E. Remengesau Jr. and FSM President Emanuel Mori “agreed to support the candidature of Tony DeBrum, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of the Marshall Islands, for the position of Secretary General of the PIF.”

All week, the corridors of the Pacific Islands Forum have been buzzing with debate over who will take over the crucial regional post.

Taylor, Rodgers and de Brum have been in Palau this week, meeting with officials and chatting with leaders and delegates.

With three Melanesian candidates and two Micronesians thrown into the mix, the disunity of sub-regional organisations is reflected in the debates.

Both Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands have large delegations in Palau, who have been holding a series of bilateral meetings with other member country delegations for bilateral discussions – outside observers may be forgiven for thinking that the issue of the top job came up in discussions (this week’s announcement by PNG Prime Minister Peter O’Neill of a 300 million Kina grant for Small Island States is a reflection of the largest island nation’s solidarity with smaller atoll countries).

With Fiji suspended from Forum meetings and activities since 2009, there was no government delegation in Koror to champion Kaliopate Tavola’s cause, although the Fijian statesman has extensive links through the region and a widely acknowledged expertise on trade issues.

The job is crucial not just for the Forum – the Secretary General acts as the Chair of the Council of Regional Organisations of the Pacific (CROP), which links the range of agencies for the region such as the Secretariat of the Pacific Community, Forum Fisheries Agency, University of the South Pacific and other key inter-governmental organisations.

Outgoing Secretary General Tuiloma Neroni Slade also serves as Pacific Oceans Commissioner, with the regional Oceanscape Framework a backdrop to this week’s discussion on the future of the oceans.

The incoming chair will face key challenges – especially to integrate Fiji back into the Forum family. While Fiji has retained its Forum membership since the 2006 coup, the Bainimarama Government has been suspended from Forum meetings and activities – and the Fiji Prime Minister has suggested he is in no rush to re-join an organisation perceived as dominated by Canberra and Wellington.