Bangsamoro election produces hung parliament as coalition talks loom
Unofficial results show no party won the 41 seats needed to control Bangsamoro’s 80-member parliament, while security forces remain on high alert after election-day shootings.
The first parliamentary election in the Philippines’ Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao has produced a hung parliament, according to unofficial results reported by Al Jazeera Global News.
More than 99 per cent of votes had reportedly been counted by Tuesday evening. A partial count by GMA News showed the two rival parties that emerged from the Moro Islamic Liberation Front each winning more than 30 per cent of the vote, but neither securing the 41 seats required for a majority in the 80-member legislature.
Coalition negotiations are now expected. Abdulraof Macacua, who leads the Bangsamoro Federalist Party, has described an alliance with other parties as unavoidable, while Al Haj Murad Ebrahim of the United Bangsamoro Justice Party has indicated that his party would negotiate if it failed to win a majority.
The result follows a period of heightened internal division. The Moro Islamic Liberation Front signed a peace agreement with the Philippine government in 2014 and served as Bangsamoro’s interim government after autonomy was approved in 2019. In 2025, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr replaced Murad with Macacua as chief minister.
The region’s peace process remains fragile, with incomplete disarmament, unresolved government aid and reparations, displacement and memories of past ISIL-linked violence continuing to shape local concerns. Authorities described the election as generally peaceful, but multiple shootings on election day killed at least three people and wounded several others. Security forces will remain on high alert in the coming days.
