Beyond the Peace Table: Reflections on The GPH-MILF Peace Process

Beyond Peace Tables: Reflections on GPH-MILF Peace Process is a book written by the former Malaysian third-party facilitator of the Government of the Philippines (GPH) – Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), Dato’ Tengku Abdul Ghafar. His tenure as facilitator culminated in the signing of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB) in May 2014. In the publication, Tengku Ghafar outlines the steps in the peace process towards the CAB, as well as the content of the agreement. In particular, he discusses how he handled impasses and tensions in negotiations through utilising less formal approaches, providing rich detail on the attitudes and behaviour of both parties from a third-party standpoint. The book also provides an explanation of the relevant peace infrastructure in the process, including the Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro, the International Contact Group, and the different ceasefire monitoring mechanisms.

The book serves to inform the discussions on practical approaches and policy towards peace process facilitation. Peace processes rarely proceed without impasses or obstacles, and sharing Tengku Ghafar’s technique and observations widely enables their application to other on-going negotiations elsewhere.