Pictured: Mark Brown, Cook Islands PM
by Richard Sanders, Staff Writer
The Pacific Islands Forum intends to dispatch a high-ranking group to New Caledonia to examine the current political turmoil in the French Territory before the Pacific Islands Forum Leaders Meeting in Tonga in August.
As reported by PACNEWS, Forum Chair and Prime Minister of the Cook Islands, Mark Brown, confirmed this plan during an interview with journalists in Tokyo following the PALM10 meeting.
Brown mentioned that although it is still a work in progress, there has been a formal request from the government of New Caledonia for a high-level delegation from the Pacific.
The next course of action involves drafting a letter that will require endorsement from France for the mission to proceed.
“We will now begin the process of how to actualize this. Naturally, it will need the backing of the French government for the mission to move forward,” Brown stated.
The Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) expressed strong disapproval of France’s handling of the political situation in Kanaky/New Caledonia.
Brown highlighted that the Forum also holds similar concerns.
“We do share similar concerns. The Kanak population boycotted the third referendum due to the impact of Covid-19 and out of respect for the mourning period. Consequently, the result of that referendum holds little value,” he explained.
President Charles Wea of New Caledonia, currently in Japan for discussions during the PALM10 conference, has said that the team would consist of the heads of state from Fiji, Cook Islands, Tonga, and Solomon Islands.
Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Fiji, Sitiveni Rabuka, declared that he will head the proposed investigative delegation from the Forum to New Caledonia.
