DAVAO CITY, 4 August — The plebiscite on the expansion of the Autonomous Region for Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) will push through as scheduled, a top government official said yesterday.
This despite objection from ARMM Gov. Nur Misuari, who wants another postponement of the Aug. 14 schedule.
Jesus Dureza, President Gloria Arroyo’s assistant for Eastern Mindanao, said he believed there would be no postponement unless Congress comes out immediately with a new law amending the measure providing for the plebiscite.
Such exercise was originally scheduled in September last year but was put on the sidelines during the impeachment trial against former President Joseph Estrada.
In the plebiscite, voting residents of 10 more cities and 10 provinces in Mindanao will be asked if they are in favor of joining the four existing provinces under the ARMM.
Misuari, chairman of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), insists that a plebiscite is not what the peace agreement he signed with the government in 1996 provides for.
Misuari’s leadership of the MNLF, however, is being challenged by most of his senior colleagues, whose faction yesterday signed a reunification agreement with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in Kuala Lumpur.
It is not clear how the latest development would affect the plebiscite as the government and the MILF are currently holding peace negotiations to resolve the Mindanao problem.
