The island nation of Kiribati has withdrawn from the Pacific Island Forum (PIF) over a leadership dispute and what it described as “reluctance” by the regional intergovernmental organization to address concerns by Micronesian countries.

The decision, which is likely to deal a blow to Pacific regional unity, came ahead of a four-day PIF leaders' meeting in Fiji’s capital, Suva, where the now 17-member body began talks on Monday on several important issues, including climate change, economic challenges and Beijing’s push for closer economic and security ties.

Kiribati is one of five Micronesian countries that had announced their intention to leave the forum after losing a controversial vote in February 2021 that resulted in a Polynesian, former Cook Islands Prime Minister Henry Puna, assuming the key post of PIF secretary-general.

Puna’s election sparked division among the forum members, with Micronesian states accusing other Pacific countries of violating a “gentleman’s agreement” that it was Micronesia's turn to fill the position, and threatening to withdraw from the diplomatic body.

The leadership dispute appeared to have been resolved last month after several Pacific countries, including some from Micronesia, agreed in Suva that the position would rotate between candidates from the three subregions – Polynesia, Melanesia and Micronesia – with the latter providing the next secretary-general by the end of Puna’s term in 2024.

The Suva agreement, which also envisages moving the position of Pacific Ocean commissioner to Micronesia as well as setting up a PIF subregional office in a Micronesian country, was expected to be formally endorsed during the July 11-14 PIF leaders meeting in Fiji.

However, Kiribati was not part of that deal, and in a leaked letter addressed to Puna, the country’s president, Taneti Maamau, announced on July 9 that he would neither sign the agreement nor attend the meeting, adding that he would pull his country out of the forum as initially planned.

In his letter, Maamau points to the concerns raised by the Micronesian states regarding the leadership contest. He suggested he still wants Puna to quit his role as secretary-general and said that his country "could not set aside the values and principles that we firmly stand on with regard to the issues at hand," according to a report by Australia’s ABC News. "For Kiribati, this is a matter of principle and one that touches on the need for equity, equality and inclusiveness," he added.

The president also suggested that his country was never formally consulted about the Suva agreement and that the main Micronesian body of leaders — the Micronesian Presidents’ Summit (MPS) — never gave it formal endorsement, ABC said.

At the same time, he raised concerns over the reform packages mentioned in the Suva agreement. “There was never a Micronesian Presidents' Summit (MPS) caucus decision on the PIF reform packages that Kiribati was part of, and particularly an MPS collective decision to return to the PIF,” he said, according to 1News New Zealand, which first broke the news.

The media outlet also quoted Maamau as saying that he had asked for the leaders’ meeting to be deferred, due to it coinciding with Kiribati National day, but that this request was never considered or acknowledged.

“As things stand now, Kiribati is angry that the June agreement was not subjected to a Micronesian Presidents' Summit decision. Maamau feels Kiribati has been disrespected by its fellow Micronesian states,” said Richard Herr, an expert on the Pacific islands at the University of Tasmania.

Kiribati’s withdrawal from the PIF is likely to weaken the diplomatic body at a time when the region grapples with a host of issues, including the increasingly severe effects of global warming and the intensifying geostrategic competition between China and the United States.

In fact, the withdrawal announcement comes as Pacific leaders are expected to discuss a regionwide multilateral economic, free trade and security pact proposed by China earlier this year. Action on the draft agreement — termed the Five-Year Action Plan on Common Development — had been deferred after concerns were raised by some of the 10 island nations involved.

The proposal is part of a recent uptick in Chinese activities that also saw Beijing strike a controversial security deal with the Solomon Islands in March. It is not yet clear whether Kiribati's PIF pullout might eventually also impact its stance on China, but Beijing did manage to persuade the country to cut diplomatic ties with Taiwan in 2019.

China’s actions in this strategically important region have set off alarm bells in the U.S. and allied countries. To counter Beijing’s push for influence, the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan, Australia and New Zealand are stepping up efforts to boost engagement with the region.

Late last month these five countries announced the launch of the “Partners in the Blue Pacific” (PBP) initiative as an “inclusive and informal” way to support regional priorities. They are seeking to align their efforts with the PIF’s “2050 Strategy for the Blue Pacific Continent,” which is also expected to be discussed at this PIF meeting.

The summit, which marks the first time Pacific leaders have met since 2019, also comes after New Zealand’s Prime Minister, Jacinda Adern, traveled to Australia last week to call for more regional diplomacy to counter what she has described as China’s increasing willingness to challenge international rules and norms.

Founded in 1971, the PIF is the region’s premier political and economic policy organization, and comprises 18 members, including PBP members Australia and New Zealand.