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As the 51st Pacific Island Forum Leaders meeting got underway in Suva, forum officials are now working behind the scenes to convince the Kiribati government to attend the high-level meeting.

The Kiribati withdrawal is being considered as a damaging blow to the regional body as political leaders gather for the much anticipated Forum after almost three years.

Kiribati was one of the five Micronesian nations that had announced last year that they will be leaving the forum, after feeling sidelined by bigger countries.

In a withdrawal letter to the PIF Secretary-General Henry Puna, the Kiribati President has cited four major reasons for staying away from the meeting in Suva.

French Polynesia Vice President, Jean-Christophe Bouissou is hopeful that Kiribati will reconsider its decision.

“We probably will have some discussions here with Kiribati to search for a way that we could stay all together, 18 of us, because this country is very important to all of us and having one of us pull out, it’s like a family, you see, so we want to really sustain this troop that we have. We have to search all the way diplomatically. They probably have something to say also, so we have to listen, and listening is a big thing today in this matter.”

Political sociologist Steven Ratuva says the matter can be resolved however, quick fix is not the answer.

“But using an approach which is based on consensus, which is based on understanding the root causes of the problem rather than a quick fix and I think what they did in Fiji was a quick fix just to make sure that everybody was on board for this particular meeting.”

New Zealand Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern says whether Kiribati changes its decision or not, the focus of the forum will not change.

“To do everything that they could to try and keep the forum closely knit and working together, it wont change the focvus we have on bigger issues that we have on the big issue that matter to the forum including climate change.”

Kiribati withdrew from the high-level meeting, saying it remains unhappy with unresolved issues.

The media approached Pacific Islands Forum Secretary General Henry Puna at the Secretariat for a comment, however he just walked away.