Reports from Vanuatu say the outgoing chair of the Pacific Islands Forum, Sato Kilman, has pulled out of the Auckland summit.
This marks the second year running that the chair stayd away from the Forum, following last year's decision by Australia's Julia Gillard to skip the annual meeting.
Mr Kilman, who is the prime minister of Vanuatu, was expected in Auckland but reports from Port Vila say he stayd home.
Yesterday, Mr Kilman succeeded in removing the speaker Maxime Carlot Korman after a month of parliamentary battles which had delayed the passing of a supplementary budget.
Meanwhile, the prime minister of Papua New Guinea, Peter O'Neill, is still expected in Auckland after yesterday's emergency parliamentary meeting.
Mr O'Neill attended last week's regional meeting in Nadi called by Fiji to engage with the Pacific.
