By Ali Macabalang
COTABATO CITY – The Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) has moved the inauguration of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) and its parliament’s opening session to March 29.
Led by Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) Chair Murad Ebrahim as Interim Chief Minister (ICM), the BTA governs the BARMM until the succession of its regular officials to be elected in the 2022 elections.
Ebrahim informed BTA members in caucus here Tuesday that the inauguration would be moved again to March 29 because “gusto ni PRRD (President Rodrigo Roa Duterte) mag-attend.”
It was supposed to be held on March 25.
BTA is prescribed under the BARMM Charter (R.A. 11054) to have 80 members, 41 of them MILF nominees and 39 government representatives.
The President appointed and swore in all 41 MILF nominees led by Ebrahim alongside 35 government nominees last Feb. 22. But MILF first Vice Chair Ghazali Jaafar, whom Ebrahim named as parliament speaker, died on March 13. This redounded for the President to fill up five vacancies in the transition body.
One or two BTA members have reportedly suggested that their affairs “should not be dependent on the presence or attendance of the President. But the BTA leadership overruled the suggestion, citing the keenness of the President in the success of BARMM operations.