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Tuesday, April 18, 2006
Editorial: Political bottom line
THE so-called unity meeting being considered by opposition leaders in Cagayan de Oro may be nothing more than fanciful thinking unless and until they reiterate and dramatize through actions that they are determined to push it through.
It was after all the fractured opposition that Mayor Vicente Emano and his Padayon Pilipino partymates liked to point out as the cause of their continued dominance over the local political scene.
Not that there is an absence of rumblings within the Padayon Pilipino ranks but if there is it doesn't show as clearly as the local opposition itself. The internal bickering is admitted by those opposed to Emano as well.
Thus this announcement of a unity meeting may not only be fanciful thinking but ill timed as well if the elections of 2007 is the focal point of contention. Not even a common agreement to oppose Emano can be used as basis for unity.
Practically most, if not all, of the opposition hate the mayor's guts one way or another and still it didn't unite the local opposition.
Main unifying issues, which include the continued rule of President Arroyo -- whom Emano is aligned with, are still not enough since even the national opposition front has yet to work out who among them would spearhead the charge against the Palace despite lawmaker Francis Escudero's claim that the opposition does not need a singular figure to rally around its cause.
The main problem bugging the opposition now at least on the local level is the inability to map out a unified agenda for which they can find common agreement.
Everyone, just like those in the local administration, wants to run for public office.
Isn't that what local politics is all about, bottom line? No amount of exhortation for pursuing a common goal of presenting a better platform of government -- though that is the common claim being dangled about by every prospective candidate -- can work whether it be on the opposition or administration side.
The reason why the Padayon Pilipino continues to dominate is that city residents aren't convinced enough about the chances of the local opposition to present a better alternative and would rather stick to what is familiar, namely the incumbent officials.
They may reason that things in the city as they stand couldn't get worse if these people remain in power even if the local opposition strongly argues otherwise.
That's one of the more immediate stumbling blocks of the local opposition as far as elections 2007 go -- convincing people they're the better alternative.
(April 18, 2006 issue)
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