Former Muslim rebels lead results in first election held in southern Philippine region

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Candidates from parties associated with a former rebel group appeared to be leading the first elections in a predominately Muslim region in the southern Philippines, official results showed Wednesday.

The election was a significant step forward for self-rule in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao , which was rocked by deadly uprisings for decades until a 2014 peace deal in which Muslim rebels agreed to lay down their arms in exchange for a promise of autonomy.

Parties descended from the former Moro Islamic Liberation Front led the polls, but with none taking a majority it remains unclear who will be able to form a government in the regional parliament.

Commission on Elections Chairman Erwin Garcia said the final voter turnout was 84% of nearly 2.4 million voters. The region covers five provinces, three cities and 63 additional villages.

The Bangsamoro Federalist Party, led by the region's transitional Chief Minister Abdulraof Macacua, came first in the party list vote with nearly 36%, winning 16 of the regional parliament's 80 seats. The party has likely won more seats in district elections, but the commission has so far only released the names of the district winners without identifying their party affiliations.

The BFP was followed by the United Bangsamoro Justice Party, led by Moro Front chairman and former Interim Chief Minister Ahod “Al Haj Murad” Ebrahim, with more than 32% of votes and 15 seats.

The members of parliament will assume office on Oct. 30 and elect the region’s chief minister, who also serves as head of the executive department. A simple majority of 41 votes is needed.

The autonomous region was established under a 2014 peace deal , replacing an older autonomous region with a larger, better-funded and more powerful area. In exchange, the Moro Front’s 40,000 fighters would to be “demobilized” and given livelihoods and other help to resume normal life.

Since the 1970s, about 150,000 combatants and civilians have died in the southern Philippines, while development was stunted in the country’s poorest region. With bombing attacks and kidnappings , Mindanao was viewed as a haven for al-Qaida and the Islamic State group until a U.S.-backed Philippine offensive weakened the militants.

In May 2017, IS-linked militants laid siege to the city of Marawi, triggering five months of ground assaults and airstrikes that left more than 1,100 people, mostly militants, dead and destroyed the mosque-studded city’s commercial and residential districts.

Murad, in a statement posted on his Facebook page on Monday, said with the region’s first election, “we begin a new chapter towards a government with stronger leadership, true service, and focused on every community and village in our homeland.”

He said the government "comes after a long struggle that is now being lived through democracy.”