Outgoing Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat Secretary-General Dame Meg Taylor is expected to finish her term this week, leaving behind a seat that will remain vacant indefinitely.
Dame Meg paid a courtesy farewell call to Fiji’s Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama in Suva yesterday as she wraps up her term in office.
The PIFS has neither appointed a successor nor provided timelines as to when this will be done.
The appointment of her successor is expected to be discussed at the Leaders retreat, a date for which is still to be confirmed.
Five names have been put forward for the position of SG including Fiji’s own in former Foreign Minister Ratu Inoke Kubuabola. The other four candidates include former Cook Islands Prime Minister Henry Puna, former Pacific Community Director-General Dr Jimmy Rodgers, sole female nominee in Tonga’s Amelia Kinahoi Siamomua and Marshall Islands’ Gerald Zackios who has the backing of Micronesian leaders who insist that the soon-to-be-vacant post should be theirs.
Dame Meg Taylor reportedly told the media that she finishes her term on 15 January.
