Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs, Sitiveni Rabuka is working to mend distrust and broken relationships with member countries of the Pacific Islands Forum.
Speaking to FijiLive, Rabuka said as PIFS current chair, he is working to re-consolidate relationships in the region.
Rabuka said at the moment, Kiribati is not actively participating with the Forum and according to him, there has been some misunderstanding and displeasure voiced by the Micronesian Islands.
“This is in regard to the selections of the last Secretary-General.”
“I have been briefed, and I have a lot of briefing papers on my table. I am currently going to them. I understand the basic machinery and how we need to resolve issues before the Pacific Islands Forum and how we are going to go through them.”
The Prime Minister said Fiji will be handing over the chairmanship to the Cook Islands in the next PIFS meeting.
“Before that, I hope to repair the damage some may feel Fiji was responsible for,” he added.
Meanwhile, the Pacific Islands Forum Secretary-General, Henry Puna, welcomed Rabuka as the new chair of the forum and said the veteran politician brings with him vast experiences and political agility to the Secretariat.
He said Fiji continues to be a remarkable leader in the region and most recently has been instrumental in the development of the region’s long term political strategy and vision now known as the 2050 Strategy for the Blue Pacific Continent.
“Fiji’s recent efforts at the regional level are testament to the robust and able capacity of your senior official’s and I take this opportunity to again commend and acknowledge their support to the Secretariat and their leadership across a range of regional initiatives,” Puna added.
