ZAMBOANGA CITY, 24 May 2007 — The Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) has rejected the result of the gubernatorial election in Sulu province, which saw Nur Misuari being badly beaten in a three-cornered fight.
Misuari, chairman of the MNLF, got only 19,121 votes, about one-fourth of the votes counted for the winner, according to the Commission on Elections (Comelec).
Sakur Tan, a prominent businessman, collected 84,434 votes and was proclaimed governor yesterday. Benjamin Loong, the incumbent governor, was also way behind with 53,096 votes.
Misuari’s group, however, asked the Comelec to declare a failure of elections in the province, citing widespread fraud and disenfranchisement of voters.
MNLF leaders earlier said many of their members and supporters were unable to vote.
Sulu is one of the six provinces of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) which have been called “factories of fraud” by the opposition. The others are Basilan, Lanao Del Sur, Maguindanao, Shariff Kabunsuan and Tawi-Tawi.
A report by the Philippine Daily Inquirer also quoted Comelec executive director Jose Pio Joson as saying between 250,000 and 300,000 multiple registrants have been found in the Muslim region.
Unfortunately, the poll body cannot simply discard spurious voters without a court order, Joson was quoted as saying.
The MNLF was not alone in calling for the voiding of Sulu’s elections.
Citing widespread intimidation of voters, party-list group Suara Bangsamoro said only the holding of new elections in Sulu would make the result credible.
The Legal Network for Truthful Elections (Lente), composed of lawyers, also reported that widespread cheating indeed took place in the island-province.
“On election day, I visited a cluster of precincts in barangay Pasil in Indanan, and was taken aback by the massive cheating in the area. Earlier that day, a voter had been shot dead by a policeman who refused the voter entry to the precinct,” a Lente volunteer, quoted in the group’s May 18 election update, said.
The volunteer also claimed similar incidents occurred in many other precincts.
“PPCRV (Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting) was there, but there was so much fear that I could not blame the watchers if they did nothing,” he said.
In the nearby island-province of Basilan, government troops clashed with gunmen late on Tuesday, hours after unknown assailants exploded a grenade at a building in Lamitan town where votes from nearby Sumisip town were being canvassed. Three people were injured.
Officials said the fighting occurred late Tuesday in Akbar town as Marine soldiers raided a thatched hut in search for illegal weapons.
It was not clear if the gunmen were members of the Abu Sayyaf group or private armies of local politicians.
Soldiers recovered assorted munitions and a machine gun. There were no reports of arrests, but troops tightened security on the island lorded by politicians and their goons. (With reports from Inquirer News Service)
