Fundasaun Mahein (FM) falsely accuse Maun Boot Xanana Gusmão of interfering in justice process. The accusation is baseless and politically motivated. Instead of finding first hand information regarding the issue it chose to base its claims on secondary sources of information, many of which have been outdated. FM should have interviewed Maun Xanana to gather more credible and first-hand information, rather than falling into a political trap in believing that the visit was an act of intervention in the judicial process.

by Tess Newton Cain, Stefan Armbruster

Prophesies of the end of the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) as we know it are close to being fulfilled after a virtual and very tense leaders’ meeting last week. The difficulties of this awkward format, held via Zoom rather than face-to-face for the first time in 50 years, were amplified with threats by the five Micronesian members to quit the regional body if their choice for Secretary General was rejected. Had their candidate been successful, he would have been the first Micronesian to hold the post in more than two decades. Instead the Forum is now close to losing almost a third of its members, subject to a few caveats in the fine print.

by Gordon Peake, Julia Bergin