Photo courtesy of Center for Peace and Conflict Studies
Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) peace panel member, Prof. Abhoud Syed Lingga, shared the learning lessons from the Bangsamoro peace process with the delegates of the 4th Peace Practitioners Research Conference held at
The event,
hosted by Center for Peace and Conflict Studies, gathered around 120 peace
scholars and practitioners from around the globe to critically reflect on
lessons learned in the areas of mediation, negotiation and dialogue from
current peace processes in Asia region.
Lingga
said, the dialogue with no pre-conditions made the start of the talks between
the Government and the Moro National Liberation Front in 1975 and then the
negotiations between the state and the MILF in 1997 easier.
He underscored
the importance of “building trust” between parties and that “the role of a
third party is helpful to bring together conflicting parties to talk peace.”
The peace
panel member further stressed that the conflicting parties have to be
encouraged to negotiate and work towards building settlement.
Lingga, one
of the much sought resource persons that tackles Mindanao
conflict, emphasized the need for the leadership of conflicting parties to
rally support for the peace process.
“The
support of influential institutions like military, Congress, media, business,
civil society and the religious strengthen parties' position to search for
creative measures in resolving the conflict,” he pointed out.
He said
that military approach does not only fail to resolve but in many cases fuel
conflict.
“While
talking peace, ceasefire is significant to keep the peace proess going and to
preserve whatever gains achieved. It provides space to build confidence among
conflicting parties.”
“Even after
the negotiations drag on for long time, encourage parties to keep talking
peace,” he suggested.
“Agreements
on ceasefire, and return and rehabilitation of evacuees are important steps
that have to be undertaken before or simultaneous with discussion on
substantive issues” Lingga said.
“After an
agreement is signed, it is important to have a road map of implementation and
benchmarks to guide parties to the agreement, third parties intervener and
funding institutions in implementing the agreement,” the peace negotiator
explained.
He suggested,
“Even after the agreement is signed, do not disband negotiating panels and
other infrastructures until the parties are fully satisfied that the agreement
is fully implemented” and added the importance of establishing the Third Party
Monitoring Team (TMPT).
The TPMT
monitors if all of the provisions of the peace accord have been implemented by
both parties.
In
preserving the gains of the peace process, Lingga emphasized it has to be done
base on the needs. As for the negotiations, there is the International Contact
Group (ICG) while for the security, the Local Monitoring Team (LMT),
Coordinating Committee on the Cessation of Hostilities (CCCH), Ad Hoc joint
Action Group (AHJAG), and the International Monitoring Team (IMT) were in
place.
He said in
conceptualizing creative approaches to a conflict situation, it is useful to
learn from the experiences of others.
“Every
conflict has its own history, context, issues, and necessity,” Lingga said and
hinted that, “The approach and process to address them must be responsive to
the circumstances.”
http://www.luwaran.com/index.php/new/item/727-milf-panel-shares-learning-lessons-from-bangsamoro-peace-process-with-peace-practitioners-in-a-conference-at-cambodia
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