Election in Philippines’ Bangsamoro region ends in hung parliament
Al Jazeera
•Tue, 15 Sep 2026 16:14:10 +0000
📰 What Happened
The first parliamentary election in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao ended in a hung parliament, with no single party winning the 41 seats needed for a majority in the 80-member body, according to unofficial results. With more than 99 percent of votes counted on Tuesday evening, the two rival parties that emerged from the Moro Islamic Liberation Front each had more than 30 percent of the vote in a partial count by GMA News. Chief Minister Abdulraof Macacua, who leads the Bangsamoro Federalist Party, acknowledged after Monday's vote that a coalition with other parties was an unavoidable situation. MILF chairman Al Haj Murad Ebrahim told reporters after casting his ballot that he hoped his party would prevail.
🔍 The Backstory
BARMM was established after the Philippine government and the MILF signed a peace agreement in 2014 that ended decades of conflict fought for independence and self-governance, and voters approved the autonomous region in a 2019 plebiscite. The MILF then ran an interim government ahead of the transition to an elected regional parliament. Last year Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr replaced longtime MILF chairman Murad Ebrahim with former front commander Macacua as chief minister, a move that worsened internal divisions in the Muslim-majority region.
🎯 Why It Matters
A hung parliament forces coalition bargaining that will determine who governs the region during the final stage of its transition from interim MILF rule to elected government. How the rival MILF-derived factions share power will shape whether the 2014 peace settlement holds together politically. Voters in one of the Philippines' poorest and most conflict-affected areas are waiting on decisions about services, revenue sharing and development. The outcome also matters to Manila, which has invested heavily in the autonomy arrangement as a template for ending insurgency.
The first parliamentary election in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao ended in a hung parliament, with no single party winning the 41 seats needed for a majority in the 80-member body, according to unofficial results. With more than 99 percent of votes counted on Tuesday evening, the two rival parties that emerged from the Moro Islamic Liberation Front each had more than 30 percent of the vote in a partial count by GMA News. Chief Minister Abdulraof Macacua, who leads the Bangsamoro Federalist Party, acknowledged after Monday's vote that a coalition with other parties was an unavoidable situation. MILF chairman Al Haj Murad Ebrahim told reporters after casting his ballot that he hoped his party would prevail.
BARMM was established after the Philippine government and the MILF signed a peace agreement in 2014 that ended decades of conflict fought for independence and self-governance, and voters approved the autonomous region in a 2019 plebiscite. The MILF then ran an interim government ahead of the transition to an elected regional parliament. Last year Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr replaced longtime MILF chairman Murad Ebrahim with former front commander Macacua as chief minister, a move that worsened internal divisions in the Muslim-majority region.
A hung parliament forces coalition bargaining that will determine who governs the region during the final stage of its transition from interim MILF rule to elected government. How the rival MILF-derived factions share power will shape whether the 2014 peace settlement holds together politically. Voters in one of the Philippines' poorest and most conflict-affected areas are waiting on decisions about services, revenue sharing and development. The outcome also matters to Manila, which has invested heavily in the autonomy arrangement as a template for ending insurgency.