Misuari faces ouster as MNLF chief
By Jeffrey Maitem
Mindanao Bureau
First Posted 23:37:00 03/27/2008
COTABATO CITY – The central committee of the Moro National Liberation Font (MNLF) will meet next week to choose a new leader.
Hatimil Hassan, MNLF interim vice chair, told the Inquirer among those being considered as replacement for Nur Misuari is MNLF secretary general Muslimin Sema.
Sema is mayor of this city and was one of the members of the MNLF Council of 15, the group that ousted Misuari as chair after his arrest on rebellion charges in 2001.
The Council of 15 agreed last year to restore Misuari at the helm of the MNLF hierarchy. Although the real reason remained unclear, it was suspected that the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) played a key role in Misuari’s return as MNLF chair.
Hassan said the decision to replace Misuari came out during recent discussions among MNLF leaders.
“That issue came out during the discussions in one of our meetings. (We agreed that) there is a need to have another leader since Misuari is in jail. Majority of us want a collective leadership,” Hassan said.
He said the final decision would be made when MNLF leaders meet in Pagadian City in Zamboanga del Sur next week.
Reached by the Inquirer, Sema said he had not been informed of any plan to replace Misuari and to name him as new chair.
But he said he would not turn down any offer for him to head the erstwhile rebel movement.
“I assure everybody that I will adhere to whatever decision our central committee makes,” Sema said.
The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), which continues to view Misuari as the legitimate head of the MNLF, said it welcomes the change in the MNLF leadership.
Eid Kabalu, MILF civil military affairs chief, said Sema, as former chair of the Southern Philippines Development Authority (SPDA), is suitable for the position.
Kabalu also said the change in MNLF leadership is normal.
“It’s normal for any organization to have its new leader,” he said.
Meanwhile, Hassan described an alleged police intelligence report about the reported MNLF plan to sow violence as baseless.
Earlier, Chief Supt. Joel Goltiao, chief of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao police, said the MNLF plot was hatched during a meeting between key MNLF and Abu Sayyaf leaders on March 18.
Goltiao said based on the plan, the MNLF will focus on armed offensives while the Abu Sayyaf would stage ambuscades against government security forces.
“It’s baseless,” Hassan said.
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