Manila: Peace talks reaching stalemate

KUALA LUMPUR: The Philippines warned that negotiations with Muslim rebels to end a decades-old insurgency in the troubled south is approaching a “stalemate”.

The government in February said it aimed to sign a peace deal this year with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), which seeks an autonomous Muslim state in the nation’s south, and put it to a referendum the following year.

But Marvic Leonen, chief government negotiator who had expressed hope a pact would be formulated within the first quarter of this year, said both parties must make “difficult decisions” if a peace deal is to remain on track.

“We are approaching what would seem to be a stalemate in our ideas for transition as well as in our ideas of how to make permanent the solutions that work for our peoples,” he said in a statement yesterday.

“Perhaps, if we can both keep an open mind, we could convince ourselves that there are goals more appropriate rather than sticking to our encrusted positions,” he added.

Leonen made the remarks as the Philippines and MILF negotiators began a three-day meeting in the capital Kuala Lumpur in another bid to advance the 15-year peace negotiations.

While Leonen did not specifically point out the exact reasons for the possible stalemate, it is generally acknowledged that both sides had not gone beyond the key issues of how the proposed “genuine autonomy” would work.

In particular, this involves power-sharing, division of wealth, its scope and what role the MILF would play in the transition government. — AFP