|
One Country, Two Systems for Mindanao?
JAKARTA, Aug 13 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - On Tuesday the Autonomous Region for Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) will be holding a referendum, bringing Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to an impromptu visit in the region.
Arroyo is hoping that her visit will boost voter support for her idea of an enlarged area of Muslim self-rule in the region, seen as crucial to ending a 30-year uprising.
Informed sources in the region, however, said Monday there was little hope Arroyo could win support from Christians in the region.
Christians constitute more than 55% of the population of Mindanao, according to the Moro Islamic Liberation Force (MILF), which only recently signed a peace treaty with Arroyo's government.
A mandate to expand the territory of an extended ARRM would give Manila a carrot to convince Muslims calling for a state of their own to seal a peace deal, officials say.
The majority within the Christian-dominated provinces is campaigning for a "no" vote to reduce the influence of the four million Muslims in this largely Roman Catholic Southeast Asian archipelago.
The former government opponent, Governor Nur Misuari, has also slammed the plebiscite and is calling on Muslims to join a boycott.
The election might see the end of his rule in the territory, which may be part of a secret agreement between the MILF and Manila to oust Misuari from powere, sources told IslamOnline.
The MILF, however, said it wanted a plebiscite to be organized and cover only the Muslim majority provinces and regions in the vast Mindanao landscape.
It said Mindanao now belonged to Muslims, Christians and aborigines, altogether, since a resettlement policy engaged by previous Manila regimes was successful in reducing the number of Muslims in the region. Mindanao has a population of 16 million, while the Philippines has a population of more than 50 million.
On the other hand, the MILF is seeking advice on the proposal that Mindanao become the Hong Kong of the Philippines.
The chairman of the government peace panel proposed the "one nation, two systems" during one of the rounds of talks with the MILF, offering it as a possible political settlement of the military conflict that has ravaged the region.
Government panel chair Jesus Dureza said replicating the Hong Kong-Beijing experience in Mindanao could be a key in resolving the conflict, and added that at the same time, it could help avoid the issue of the establishment of an independent Islamic state.
After the 150-year old British colony was handed over to China on July 1, 1997, China retained Hong Kong's capitalist way of life.
This was in accord with the "one country, two systems" policy of the Chinese Communist Party towards Hong Kong. China declared Hong Kong a Special Administrative Region (SAR) governed by a chief executive with its legislature and judicial systems separate those of the mainland.
Dureza also said the government panel need not address reported MILF demands for an independent Islamic state.
The MILF said it had not formally raised a demand for independence during its talks with the administrations of Presidents Fidel Ramos, Joseph Estrada and Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. It added that its aim was to achieve peace in the region first, knowing that in the long run, independence will be achieved eventually.
Dureza said representatives from Muslim-dominated countries like Libya and Malaysia informed the MILF they are not keen on supporting aspirations of independence in countries where Muslims are a minority.
He said these countries instead encouraged fellow Muslims who are a minority in their countries to work closely and settle long-standing armed conflicts with their governments.
He said Malaysia and Libya also assured the MILF that they will help in improving the lives of the Bangsamoro people in conflict-affected areas.
On Sunday, the MILF reiterated it would not drop its bid for independence in Mindanao despite the ceasefire pact earlier sealed with the government, a spokesman said.
"The MILF will not abandon its cause for total independence in the south because this is the aspiration of the [Muslim] people," its senior leader, Shariff Julabbi, said.
"A self-rule for the [Muslims] is the only key to peace in southern Philippines," he added.
Government negotiators tried to pressure the MILF panel during peace talks in Malaysia into signing a document that would force them to abandon their quest for a separate state.
"They had failed, and we are clever enough not to sign any document abandoning the cause of the [Muslims] for self-rule," he added.
The 12,500-strong MILF in June agreed to resume talks with the government aimed at reaching a political settlement to their 23-year war in the south.
The MILF, a faction of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), broke away from the Misuari-led group when it dropped its bid for an independent Islamic state and settled for autonomy by entering into a peace pact with government in 1996.
With additional reporting by Kazi Mahmood
|
