Three Nominations Received for Secretary General of Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat
The Forum Chair, and Prime Minister of Tonga, Dr. Fred Vaka'uta Sevele, has written to the Forum Leaders informing them that three nominations were received for the post of Secretary General of the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat when nominations closed on 30 July 2008.The three nominees are: Tuiloma Neroni Slade of Samoa, Feleti Penitala Teo of Tuvalu and Wilkie Olaf Patua Rasmussen of the Cook Islands. Each of them was nominated by their respective governments.
The post of Secretary General of the Forum Secretariat became vacant earlier this year due to the resignation of Greg Urwin because of ill health.
The Forum Chair said that the Forum Leaders will appoint the new Secretary General at their Retreat at the Forum Meeting in Niue.
Each of the nominees has had extensive working background. Tuiloma Neroni Slade is a former Attorney General of Samoa; senior legal adviser at the Commonwealth Secretariat; Samoa's Ambassador to the United Nations; and his most recent appointment was as a Judge in the International Criminal Court. Feleti Penitala Teo is a former Attorney General of Tuvalu; Director General of the Forum Fisheries Agency; Deputy Secretary General of the Forum Secretariat; and is presently the Acting Secretary General. Wilkie Rasmussen is a former Secretary to Cabinet of Cook Islands; Cook Islands High Commissioner to New Zealand; Tutor in Anthropology Department of University of Auckland; and is presently the Cook Islands' Minister for Foreign Affairs and Immigration.