Election in Philippines’ Bangsamoro region ends in hung parliament

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.

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.