Election in Philippines’ Bangsamoro region ends in hung parliament

No party wins majority in first parliamentary polls in southern Philippines’ Muslim-majority region, unofficial results show.

A woman votes at the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao parliamentary elections at a school in Lanao del Sur province, southern Philippines [Richel V.Umel/AP Photo]

Marawi City, Philippines – The first parliamentary election in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) in the southern Philippines has resulted in a hung parliament as no single party managed to secure a majority, according to unofficial results.

With more than 99 percent of votes counted as of Tuesday evening, the two rival parties that emerged from the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front each had more than 30 percent of the vote, showed the partial count of GMA News, one of the country’s largest news networks. Neither secured the 41 seats needed for a majority in the 80-member parliament.

The front signed a peace agreement with the Philippine government in 2014 after decades of conflict for independence and self-governance. It served as an interim government after voters approved the autonomous region in 2019. But last year, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr replaced longtime Moro Islamic Liberation Front chairman Al Haj Murad Ebrahim with Abdulraof Macacua, a former front commander, as chief minister, in a move that worsened internal divisions in the Muslim-majority region.

A Muslim woman voter shows the indelible ink on her fingers after voting [Richel V.Umel/AP Photo]

Macacua, who leads the Bangsamoro Federalist Party, has acknowledged that a coalition with other parties is “an unavoidable situation” following Monday’s vote.

Ebrahim told reporters after casting his ballot that he hoped his party – the United Bangsamoro Justice Party (UBJP) – would clinch most of the seats, but expressed openness to negotiating with other parties.

“If the party does not get majority of the seats, we will look for parties who can be our allies so that we can form a coalition,” Murad said.

Some voters had feared a return to fighting if the UBJP failed to get a commanding lead, especially because the front has halted the disarming of former fighters, citing the government’s failure to provide aid as promised.

“One of the commanders of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front has said that if they don’t win the election, there might be war again,” Alinair Aracaya said.

The commander he was referring to was 64-year-old Abdullah Macapaar – also known as Commander Bravo and notorious for being one of the most defiant front leaders. On Monday, Macapaar, who was also running to become a member of parliament, voted for the first time in his life.

In a Facebook post, Miriam Coronel-Ferrer, who led peace negotiations with the front on behalf of the government, commended the participating parties “for their great effort to build their capacity to enter the field of electoral politics and play by the rules of the electoral process”.

Authorities said the elections were generally peaceful, but security forces will remain on high alert in the coming days. Multiple shooting incidents on election day left at least three people dead and several wounded.

“We will still hold our deployment in place even after the proclamation of winners. We are trying to ensure that the security situation will remain stable,” said Brigadier General Jemuel Siason, deputy police director of the Bangsamoro region.

After years of negotiations, the Philippine government and Moro Islamic Liberation Front signed a peace agreement that paved the way for autonomy in the region.

Voter Aracaya’s wife, Norhailyn Madayan, remembers a childhood spent fleeing conflict. “Just the sight of soldiers terrified us because that meant there might be clashes again. There were also clan wars,” Madayan said.

Aracaya and Madayan said peace has allowed them to build a life. They have a thriving business and a newly constructed concrete home. But they also say peace has been fragile. In 2016, ISIL-linked fighters briefly took control of their town.

The following year, the same group laid siege to Marawi City. The military responded with air attacks.

Asraf Balt, a resident, was only nine years old at the time. But because shots rang out every now and then, he said he did not immediately realise the gravity of the situation until he saw what happened to their home.

“We got displaced, and our house got destroyed. Like, heavily destroyed to the point that we had to rebuild it,” Balt said. His family has moved back to their home, but hundreds of others remain in temporary shelters.

Analyn Pangandaman said her family cannot afford to rebuild their home without reparation from the government. She has been waiting to get compensated for nearly nine years.

Now, she says, she cannot even visit her mother, even if she lives just a few towns away.

“I used to see my parents a lot, but I don’t any more because I can’t afford the commute. We used to be able to visit them because we had a car,” Pangandaman said.

With the Bangsamoro region having been able to conclude its first election, Pangandaman hopes to receive what the government owes her family soon. And it’s only possible, she says, if winning parties set aside differences and work together towards peace and progress.

An elections worker places indelible ink on the finger of a man after voting at the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region [Richel V.Umel/AP Photo]

非官方结果显示，菲律宾南部穆斯林占多数的地区首次议会选举中，没有政党获得多数席位。

一名妇女在菲律宾南部南拉瑙省的一所学校参加邦萨摩罗穆斯林自治区议会选举投票。[Richel V.Umel/AP Photo]

菲律宾马拉维市——根据非官方结果，菲律宾南部邦萨摩罗穆斯林棉兰老自治区（BARMM）的首次议会选举结果为悬浮议会，因为没有一个政党获得多数席位。

截至周二晚间，已统计超过99%的选票，从分离主义组织摩洛伊斯兰解放阵线中分裂出来的两个对立政党均获得超过30%的选票。这是菲律宾最大的新闻网络之一GMA新闻的部分计票结果。这两个政党均未获得在80个议席的议会中获得多数所需的41个席位。

在经历了数十年的争取独立和自治的冲突后，该阵线于2014年与菲律宾政府签署了和平协议。2019年，选民批准成立自治区后，该阵线曾担任临时政府。但去年，菲律宾总统费迪南德·马科斯用前阵线指挥官阿卜杜勒拉奥夫·马卡库亚取代了长期担任摩洛伊斯兰解放阵线主席的哈吉·穆拉德·易卜拉欣，担任首席部长，此举加剧了这个穆斯林占多数的地区内部的分裂。

一位穆斯林女选民在投票后展示手指上的不褪色墨水。[Richel V.Umel/AP Photo]

领导邦萨摩罗联邦党的马卡库阿承认，在周一的投票之后，与其他政党组成联盟是“不可避免的情况”。

埃布拉希姆在投票后告诉记者，他希望自己的政党——联合邦萨摩罗正义党（UBJP）——能够赢得大多数席位，但他表示愿意与其他政党进行谈判。

穆拉德说：“如果本党未能获得多数席位，我们将寻找可以与我们结盟的政党，以便组建联盟。”

一些选民担心，如果 UBJP 未能取得压倒性领先优势，可能会再次爆发战斗，尤其是因为该阵线已经停止解除前战士的武装，理由是政府未能按承诺提供援助。

“摩洛伊斯兰解放阵线的一名指挥官表示，如果他们不赢得选举，可能会再次爆发战争，”阿利奈尔·阿拉卡亚说。

他所指的指挥官是64岁的阿卜杜拉·马卡帕尔，绰号“布拉沃指挥官”，以其桀骜不驯的作风而臭名昭著。周一，马卡帕尔生平第一次投票，他当时也在竞选议员。

代表政府领导与该阵线进行和平谈判的米里亚姆·科罗内尔-费雷尔在 Facebook 上发帖，赞扬参与各方“为提升自身能力，进入选举政治领域并遵守选举程序规则而做出的巨大努力”。

当局表示，选举总体上和平进行，但安全部队将在未来几天保持高度戒备。选举日当天发生的多起枪击事件造成至少3人死亡，多人受伤。

“即使在宣布获胜者之后，我们仍将维持部署。我们正在努力确保安全局势保持稳定，”邦萨摩罗地区副警长杰穆埃尔·西亚松准将说道。

经过多年的谈判，菲律宾政府和摩洛伊斯兰解放阵线签署了和平协议，为该地区的自治铺平了道路。

选民阿拉卡亚的妻子诺海琳·马达扬回忆起童年时期在战乱中度过的日子。“光是看到士兵就让我们害怕，因为这意味着冲突可能再次爆发。当时还有部族战争，”马达扬说道。

阿拉卡亚和马达扬说，和平让他们得以重建生活。他们的生意蒸蒸日上，还新建了一栋混凝土房屋。但他们也表示，和平十分脆弱。2016年，与“伊斯兰国”有关联的武装分子曾短暂控制了他们的城镇。

次年，同一伙人围攻了马拉维市。军方以空袭予以回应。

居民阿斯拉夫·巴尔特当时只有九岁。但他表示，由于枪声不时响起，直到看到自家房屋的遭遇，他才意识到事态的严重性。

“我们流离失所，房子也被毁了。损毁非常严重，我们不得不重建，”巴尔特说。他的家人已经搬回了家，但仍有数百人住在临时住所。

阿纳琳·潘甘达曼表示，如果没有政府的赔偿，她的家人根本无力重建家园。她已经等待赔偿近九年了。

她说，现在她甚至无法去看望她的母亲，即使母亲就住在几个城镇之外。

“我以前经常去看望父母，但现在不行了，因为我负担不起路费。以前我们有车，所以经常去看他们，”庞甘达曼说。

随着邦萨摩罗地区首次选举顺利举行，潘甘达曼希望政府能尽快支付她家人应得的款项。她说，只有各获胜政党搁置分歧，携手合作，共同促进和平与进步，这一切才有可能实现。

在邦萨摩罗自治区，一名选举工作人员在一名男子投票后，在其手指上涂抹不褪色墨水。[Richel V.Umel/AP Photo]