Election in Philippines’ Bangsamoro region ends in hung parliament

Marawi City, Philippines – The first parliamentary election in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) in the southern Philippines has resulted in a hung parliament as no single party managed to secure a majority, according to unofficial results.With more than 99 percent of votes counted as of Tuesday evening, the two rival parties that emerged from the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front each had more than 30 percent of the vote, showed the partial count of GMA News, one of the country’s largest news networks. Neither secured the 41 seats needed for a majority in the 80-member parliament.The front signed a peace agreement with the Philippine government in 2014 after decades of conflict for independence and self-governance. It served as an interim government after voters approved the autonomous region in 2019. But last year, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr replaced longtime Moro Islamic Liberation Front chairman Al Haj Murad Ebrahim with Abdulraof Macacua, a former front commander, as chief minister, in a move that worsened internal divisions in the Muslim-majority region.A Muslim woman voter shows the indelible ink on her fingers after voting [Ric...