MILF may participate in 2016 polls with peace pact seen signed soon

From GMA News (Sep 21): MILF may participate in 2016 polls with peace pact seen signed soon

With a new Bangsamoro political entity expected soon, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front indicated Sunday it may finally participate in the 2016 polls – if its peace efforts with the government will lead to the signing of a peace pact.

Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces (BIAF) chief of staff Sammy Al-Mansoor disclosed this at a seminar on political party building, the MILF said in an article on its website Sunday.

“This only goes to show that we are now gearing towards ballots instead of bullets,” Al-Mansoor was quoted in the article as saying.

Aside from being BIAF chief of staff, Al-Mansoor is also chairman of the MILF’s Interim Committee for the Formation of the Bangsamoro Political Party.

On the other hand, the MILF said the establishment of a political party will be a “confirmation of status from revolutionary struggle to parliamentary struggle” by 2016, the target period for the entrenchment of the Bangsamoro autonomous political entity.

In the past, the MILF had adopted a hands-off stance on elections, which it had branded as "very divisive."

The MILF said the seminar was held September 16 to 19 at the Bangsamoro Leadership and Management Institute (BLMI) training hall in Sultan Kudarat, Maguindanao.

It said 42 officers from various areas in the proposed Bangsamoro region attended the seminar, which may help the MILF form its own political party.

The peace talks between the government and the MILF include provisions for a Bangsamoro political entity, which the MILF said shall have a ministerial form of government.

Because of this, the MILF said an electoral system suitable for the new government shall also be established.

MILF central committee secretariat head Mohammad Ameen thanked the sponsors and organizers of the seminar.

Ameen also urged the participants to put into practice “what you have learned” to become “effective workers of the future Bangsamoro political party.”

He said a stable political party must be in place to complement the ministerial Bangsamoro government that “will provide the needs of our people.”

http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/327593/news/nation/milf-may-participate-in-2016-polls-with-peace-pact-seen-signed-soon