By Hader Glang
ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines
Leaders, commanders and senior members of the Philippines' one-time largest Muslim rebel group met Monday at their stronghold in central Mindanao to establish a political party - the latest step in a move to legitimacy after signing a March 27 peace deal with the government.
Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) political affairs chief Ghadzali Jaafar said they convened at Camp Darapanan in Maguindanao "to show the whole world that we are determined to participate in the 2016 presidential election."
The deal – named the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro - brings to a close 17 years of negotiations and ends a decades-old armed conflict in the southern area of Mindanao -- the second largest and southernmost major island in the Philippines -- while granting Muslim areas greater political autonomy.
In return, the MILF is to turn over firearms to a third party selected by itself and the government, and decommission its armed wing, the Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces. A regional police force will be established, and the Philippines army will reduce the presence of troops in the Muslim region and help disband its private armies.
Participation in the national elections as the new United Bangsamoro Justice Party would shift the group’s paradigm from bullets to ballots, said Mohagher Iqbal, who heads the MILF panel in the peace negotiations with government.
He confirmed the party would register with the Commission on Elections once memberships have been completed and begin mass organization on the ground, but remained silent on who would run and for what positions, saying it would be premature to give such details.
Central Committee Chairman Al Haj Murad Ibrahim has previoulsy underlined that the MILF organization will continue as a non-government organization that will focus more on assisting in social economic programs, alongside the government.
The draft Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) - which will provide for the establishment of an autonomous government - is still to be passed and ratified by Congress, before it will be submitted to the people in a plebiscite.
Both the government and the MILF peace panels have expressed confidence that Congress would pass the BBL before June 2015.
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