MILF: ARMM polls hurdle to peace pact
abs-cbnnews.com | 07/18/2008 2:43 PM
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The Moro Islamic Liberation Front said Friday that the August 11 elections in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao is another obstacle to the peace talks between MILF and the government.
“This is an obstacle to the successful implementation of the peace process. [This is why] the MILF is very serious in asking the administration to postpone the ARMM elections,” Ghazali Jaafar, MILF vice chairman for political affairs, told ANC's "Dateline Philippines" newscast.
The MILF’s statement came after its peace panel and the government’s resolved issues on the ancestral domain agreement. According to government panel chief Rodolfo Garcia, the issue on ancestral domain is among the hurdles for a final peace pact.
The MILF Web site (www.luwaran.com) said in a statement Thursday that the group's bid to postpone the August 11 elections was raised by a panel meeting.
The marathon talks on ancestral domain was sealed off after the MILF agreed to drop the word “for freedom” on its proposal. The government, for its part, promised to push for constitutional amendments to accommodate certain proposals on the peace agreement.
One proposal is the government’s shift from presidential to a federal system.
The government and MILF panels will meet July 24 to decide when the draft memorandum of agreement (MOA) will be signed. After the signing of the draft MOA, formal peace negotiations can start.
A plebiscite to expand the ARMM will also be held six months after the MOA is signed. The expanded ARMM is expected to include 712 villages from Lanao del Norte, North Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, Zamboanga Sibugay and Palawan.
In a related statement, the MILF said peace talks might still be bungled if the ARMM election pushes through.
“Pushing through with the election would create the impression that the government is not really serious in the present talks and President Arroyo is not really determined to wind up the talks during her term of office,” the group said in the statement.
It said if new ARMM officials are elected, the creation of the Bangsamoro Juridical Entity would be postponed for three years “because elected officials of the ARMM will have to finish their terms of office in 2011.”
Jaafar said the MILF could not afford to wait for three more years. He said “a lot of things may happen” during the three-year waiting period, but he declined to elaborate.
Proposal too late
Former Supreme Court justice Jose Melo, the new chairman of the Commission on Elections (COMELEC), said the MILF’s demand would be impossible to grant with less than a month before the ARMM elections.
Melo said the ARMM elections can only be postponed by Congress, which is on a recess. Sessions will resume July 28 or two weeks before the polls.
“The COMELEC cannot postpone the elections. If there is any [branch of government] that can call for the postponement, it is only Congress,” he said.
“By this time, it’s too late, I suppose,” the COMELEC chief added.
Aside from the lack of time, Melo hinted that the government had already spent millions for the much-awaited ARMM elections.
The ARMM polls is being regarded as the country's first automated elections. The August 11 elections would measure if the country can implement nationwide automated polls in 2010.
