No ‘coalition’ government in peace pact, chief NDFP negotiator says

From ABS-CBN (Jun 1): No ‘coalition’ government in peace pact, chief NDFP negotiator says

The chief peace negotiator for Maoist rebels insisted Friday they were not demanding to be part of a coalition government, one of the reasons previously cited by President Rodrigo Duterte for the breakdown of peace talks last year.

“We never asked for a coalition government. We said this can come as a result of agreements,” said Fidel Agcaoili, chairman of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines’ (NDFP) peace panel.

Duterte earlier sounded the alarm on what he suspected was the rebels’ plan to establish a coalition government at the end of the peace negotiations.

He said it was something he could not give.

COALITION PARTY

Agcaoili said “any such government will depend on the balance of forces.”

“In this instance, we’re saying, let’s have these agreements,” he told ANC’s Early Edition. “Then let’s have an election where we can also take part and perhaps, jointly tayo, as a coalition party or whatever movement.”

Political and constitutional reforms are among the main agenda items in the protracted peace process, which is aimed at ending nearly 50 years of Maoist rebellion in the Philippines.

While government continued to negotiate peace with the rebels, Duterte is pushing for the broader federalism project, which is expected to encompass wide-ranging systemic and structural reforms in the economy and the political system.

A Duterte-formed committee now drafting a new federal constitution was supposed to include representatives from the NDFP, ABS-CBN News has learned.

But its slots were left vacant in the 25-man group as the peace talks were derailed for months, following continued attacks by the New People’s Army on government troops.

http://news.abs-cbn.com/news/06/01/18/no-coalition-government-in-peace-pact-chief-ndfp-negotiator-says