Solomon Islands reopens debate over dialogue partners at Pacific Islands Forum

Solomon Islands has reopened a dispute over who should attend the Pacific Islands Forum’s annual leaders’ meeting, asking members to consider separating dialogue partners from the main gathering.

The proposal came during a closed PIF meeting on Wednesday in Palau. Solomon Islands asked whether the leaders’ meeting should take place independently of the dialogue partners’ process, according to RNZ Pacific. The partners’ dialogue is currently held during the same week as the leaders’ meeting.

Twenty-one countries hold PIF dialogue partner status, including the United States, China, Japan and France. Taiwan, which also has a delegation in Koror, is a development partner. Solomon Islands banned dialogue partners from attending last year while it hosted the forum and deferred the partners’ meeting to Palau. That decision split members.

Interest in the Pacific has brought increasingly large delegations, along with more NGOs and observers. The current leaders’ week in Palau was expected to attract 2,000 people, generating extensive bilateral meetings and side events beyond the official forum agenda. Several Pacific delegations have reportedly struggled to keep up with the demands of the week.

A separate partner process could give Pacific governments more time to speak directly with one another and focus on the PIF agenda. But support for the Solomon Islands proposal is not certain. New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters has argued that partners belong at the leaders’ meeting because of their investment in the region. Samoa’s former prime minister Fiame Naomi Mata’afa and Palau President Surangel Whipps Jr supported Solomon Islands’ position last year.

The debate coincides with discussions among the 18 PIF members over a new partnership structure. The proposal would divide partners into two tiers, giving the top tier greater access to member states. Large delegations from China, the United States and Taiwan have also kept geopolitical competition in focus, while the absence of five leaders, including Solomon Islands Prime Minister Matthew Wale, has drawn attention.