(Oct 14): On Sept 14, more than two million people in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) voted in the region’s first parliamentary election, a turnout of 84%. Despite deadly violence in Cotabato City and pre-marked ballots in Basilan, international observers, including the International Republican Institute, judged the polls an important step forward for the peace process. On Oct 30, an elected Parliament in the autonomous region will sit for the first time.

It is a landmark in a historic peace process in which Malaysia was indispensable. Since 2001, Malaysia has served as the designated third-party facilitator, and from 2004 to 2022 it led the international monitoring team. Malaysia’s credibility with both the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and the government in Manila — sustained by the resources and dogged persistence of an empowered facilitator, the late Tengku Datuk Abdul Ghafar Tengku Mohamed — was an essential element in transforming the conflict. The parties still say so. In Kuala Lumpur last month, MILF peace panel chairman Mohagher Iqbal called Malaysia’s facilitation “indispensable” and said he hoped it would stay until the process formally concludes.

Yet even as the Bangsamoro’s five million people celebrate electing their own Parliament, the work of peace is not over. As other international partners inevitably claim success and draw down now that the political track is largely settled, the role of a friendly neighbour will become even more important.

Malaysia’s contributions will need to continue in two areas.

First, while the election effectively brings the political track of the peace process to a close, the other track — normalisation, meaning the decommissioning of MILF combatants and weapons and investments in their communities — is badly behind. In July 2025 the MILF suspended the final phase of decommissioning, covering about 14,000 fighters, arguing that Manila had not delivered the support promised to the 26,000 already decommissioned. Trust between the MILF and the national government is low, and the election has made things more complex. 

The MILF’s United Bangsamoro Justice Party (UBJP) won 30 seats, just behind the 31 won by the Bangsamoro Federalist Party (BFP) — a breakaway made up largely of former MILF members and led by Manila-appointed interim Chief Minister Abdulraof Macacua. Neither has a majority, and the BARMM Grand Coalition, a collection of non-MILF-based parties, holds the balance with 15 seats. Whoever becomes the chief minister, the MILF as an organisation may well not control the regional government it fought to create, and the split in its ranks has made trust harder to build. Yet the peace agreement remains one between the MILF and the national government, and normalisation must continue regardless of who governs in Cotabato City.

To hold all these actors together, an outside partner will likely be needed, and that means Malaysia. After years of being sidelined by the Philippine government, Malaysia is firmly back in the mix. On Aug 4, Malaysian facilitator Tan Sri Zulkifli Zainal Abidin joined the government and MILF peace panels in Davao City as they resumed normalisation talks after a five-month hiatus. On September 25, at Malaysia’s invitation, the panels met in Kuala Lumpur and pledged to complete decommissioning and the rest of normalisation. Pledges are the easy part. More work of this kind will be needed, and Malaysia is uniquely placed to provide it.

Second, beyond the formal peace process, sustaining peace will require economic development. In 2023, 23.5% of Bangsamoro families lived in poverty, more than double the Philippine rate of 10.9%. Here too Malaysia is well positioned. It can offer expertise in halal-industry development (its halal exports reached RM68.5 billion last year), Islamic finance and parliamentary administration. Tabung Haji offers lessons in pilgrimage-fund management, while Felda offers lessons in rural development. These models should be adapted with care: both Tabung Haji and Felda have faced governance and corruption challenges, so the lesson is as much what to guard against as what to build. Malaysian agencies can also support the rehabilitation and reintegration of former combatants and communities affected by the Marawi conflict.

Sabah could serve as an economic and people-to-people bridge, building on the BIMP-EAGA growth area and BARMM’s new barter-trade rules. Kota Kinabalu and Sandakan could deepen trade, logistics, education and investment links with BARMM, though the unresolved Philippine claim to Sabah requires careful diplomacy.

The Bangsamoro election is worth celebrating. It is also a moment to reflect on Malaysia’s substantial capacity to build peace in its neighbourhood. But an election is a milestone, not a finish line. There is more to be done — and Malaysia should be ready to do it.

Aizat Shamsuddin is an executive director of INITIATE.MY. Brian Harding is a senior research fellow at the Southeast Asia Peace Institute. They previously worked at the US Institute of Peace.