Tuesday, October 03, 2006 Minority lawmakers back call for snap polls
OPPOSITION congressmen on Monday rallied behind the proposal of evangelist Brother Eddie Villanueva that snap elections be held right away as it is the only way to settle various issues confronting the Arroyo presidency.
But House Minority Leader Francis Escudero and his deputy Alan Peter Cayetano said snap elections could only be held if and when the entire Commission on Elections (Comelec) en banc is removed or the office is reorganized.
The call for the snap elections has long been the stand of some members of the opposition, particularly at a time when all other means to push the President to answer all the allegations leveled against her, including the question over her administration's legitimacy, had already been exerted.
Villanueva's son, Citizens Battle Against Corruption (Cibac) party-list Representative Joel Villanueva said the call of a snap election is highly in order.
As expected, allies of the President in the House of Representatives have dismissed the snap election call made by the elder Villanueva as another attempt of the opposition to oust the President after their failed impeachment bids.
Calling for a snap election is unconstitutional, House Majority Leader Prospero Nograles and Eastern Samar Representative Marcelino Libanan.
"It seems that Brother Eddie wants to run for President again in a snap election," said Nograles.
He advised the evangelist, who ran but lost in the 2004 presidential elections, to wait until 2010 if he really wants the position of President. But to insist on a snap election is a no-no since there is no legal basis to do it, Nograles added.
Cayetano however pointed out that there is basis to call for a snap election as Arroyo continued to refuse to answer all allegations of electoral fraud against her.
Libanan, for his part, encouraged Villanueva to instead support moves to amend the 1987 Constitution as he backed claims made by Nograles that nowhere in the current Constitution does it provide for the holding of a snap election.
He also said a snap election is only allowed if there is vacancy in the presidential and vice presidential positions.
Libanan added that the Constitution clearly provides for a line of succession to the presidency.
Another administration congressman, Davao del Sur Representative Douglas Cagas, said a snap election is a process to prevent a leadership vacuum and a constitutional crisis, which simply do not apply at present. (DBP/Sunnex)
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