MILF to form political party for 2016 elections

Manila: A former separatist Filipino-Muslim rebel group which forged a “framework agreement” with the Philippine government last year will form a political party to be able to participate in the 2016 elections “within this year”, a regional paper said.

“We want to maintain the status of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front [MILF] as an Islamic organisation. The political party [that will contain the word Bangsamoro] will be the arm of the MILF for the political process,” Al Haj Murad said.

“The preparation is actually for the plebiscite [in 2016]. We encouraged all of them [Filipino-Muslims] to register [at the Commission on Elections] in preparation for the plebiscite,” Murad said.

He referred to residents’ ratification of the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law, for the establishment of an expanded autonomous area for Filipino-Muslims in the southern Philippines; and the election of the first local officials of the Bangsamoro.

The proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law will abolish the existing 23-year old Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) which has five provinces and one city as members.

The proposed law will have to be approved by Congress and then ratified by residents of the ARMM, including new areas such as six more municipalities and 800 Muslim-dominated villages in the southern Philippines.

The areas proposed to be part of a larger Bangsamoro had voted in 2001, during the second referendum for autonomy, to be part of the ARMM.

The Philippine government and MILF will also forge a final peace agreement in July, according to sources.

That means the commission in charge with the drafting of the proposed law for Bangsamoro’s establishment will have a month to finish its work.

It was the first time that the MILF revealed plans to transform itself from a rebel group engaged in armed struggle to a political party engaged in parliamentary struggle.

In reaction, Secretary Teresita Deles, head of the Office of the Presidential Peace Adviser on the peace Process (OPPAP) said: “This is consistent with the road map of the signed framework agreement [between the Philippine government and the MILF last year] which ends with the election of officials for the newly established Bangsamoro in 2016.”

“It is consistent with the goals of any negotiated political settlement to transform the engaged armed party into an unarmed political and socio-economic force for continuing change and reform,” Deles said.

“It also demonstrates the commitment of MILF to prepare itself for the challenge of democratic and inclusive governance in the Bangsamoro,” she added.

The Philippine government and the MILF started holding peace talks in 1997.

The separatist war waged by Filipino-Muslim rebel groups in the south has killed 150,000 since the early 70s.

The long civil war has impoverished the southern area.