“The Micronesian Presidents collectively expressed great disappointment with the Pacific Islands Forum,as set out in Article XII of the Agreement Establishing the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat,” the Micronesian states said in the statement.
“The Micronesian Presidents look forward to strengthening the work of subregional organisations including the Micronesian Presidents’ Summit.”
Australia had been trying in recent days to convince the four other Micronesian states not to follow Palau in walking out of the PIF.
A spokesman for the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said unity and co-operation across the Pacific were “essential as our region faces multiple challenges,especially recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic”.
The DFAT spokesman said Australia understood the disappointment of the Micronesian countries and encouraged “all members to work together to find a path forward”.
“Australia values its bilateral partnerships with the Micronesian countries and looks forward to working together with each country,” the spokesman said.
Opposition foreign affairs spokeswoman Penny Wong said a “divided” PIF made tackling the challenges facing the region more difficult,warning “other countries will fill the leadership vacuum and that could cost us dearly”.
“In the current strategic climate,a strong and united PIF is more essential than ever,” she said.
The PIF has notched up a number of achievements in recent years includingunifying the islands’ voices and lobbying for global attention to climate change.
Tess Newton Cain,project leader for the Pacific Hub at the Griffith Asia Institute,said the Micronesian states had left themselves enough “wriggle room” to reverse the decision under some kind of compromise.
Dr Newton Cain said one solution could be to come to some kind of formal agreement that the role of secretary-general is rotated between the different sub-regions of the Pacific.
“They’ve[the Micronesian states] made it clear they weren’t messing about and they expect to be taken seriously,” she said.
“There is still scope for that process to be reversed. What we don’t know is what they would need - either individually or collectively - to make it worth their while to stay.”
Dr Newton Cain said Australia should encourage the Micronesian states to remain in the PIF but it it needed to be “careful not to be seen to be exercising undue influence”.
Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne on Monday said Australia would continue to work with the Micronesian group if it chose to pull out of the forum.
“There is no doubt,as one would expect in the Pacific,that this is the subject of robust contest and Micronesian leaders have expressed their concerns and their disappointment that the outcome was not for the candidate that they had supported,” Senator Payne said.
“Unity is very,very important in the Pacific right now. It will be a matter for those countries as to how they want to take that forward,but Australia wants to work in a constructive spirit and in a united spirit to address the challenges of 2021.”
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