MANILA, Sept 17 — A party led by some officials of the Philippines’ largest former Islamic rebel group secured the most seats in the first parliamentary election of the country’s Muslim-dominated Bangsamoro autonomous region, results showed Wednesday, narrowly defeating the former rebel group’s official party.
The Bangsamoro Federalist Party led by the region’s interim government chief Abdulraof Macacua, which is perceived to be aligned with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s party, secured 31 of the 80 seats in Monday’s voting, the elections commission said.
The party’s main rival, the United Bangsamoro Justice Party formed by the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and headed by Macacua’s predecessor Al Haj Murad Ebrahim, won 30 seats. With no party securing a majority in the parliament, the BFP, the UBJP and five other parties are likely to consider forming a coalition.
The Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao in the country’s south was established under a 2014 peace agreement between the central government and the MILF.
Murad, chairman of the MILF, which began its armed struggle for independence in the 1970s, was chosen by the central government as the first chief minister of the autonomous region’s interim government in 2019. But he was replaced last year by Macacua, then the chief of the MILF’s armed forces.
Macacua’s joining the BFP in August caused division within the former rebel group.
Despite security arrangements for the historic polls, which were monitored on the ground by international observers including those from Japan and the European Union, violent incidents involving supporters of rival political groups occurred earlier this week, causing at least four deaths.
The decades-long organized armed struggle of the Muslim rebels fomented a cycle of violence in parts of Mindanao, the second largest island of the Philippines, disrupting people’s lives and arresting economic progress.
According to a statement issued Wednesday by Murad’s office, he “expressed hope that the democratic continuation of the struggle will usher in a stronger and more united Bangsamoro leadership dedicated to protecting the gains of the peace process.”
