Pacific Islands Forum in crisis as one-third of member nations quit

Micronesian sub-grouping walks out over selection of new secretary-general

The Pacific Islands Forum - the Pacific's most influential regional body - is in disarray after nearly one-third of its member countries quit en masse.

The countries of the Micronesian sub-grouping - Palau, the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, Kiribati, and Nauru - have all abandoned the forum over the selection of the new secretary-general for the forum, following the election of Polynesia's candidate in defiance of a long-standing convention that dictated it was the Micronesia's turn to provide the forum's leader.