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JUSTICE
Secretary Raul Gonzalez on Tuesday dismissed the notion
that the only solution to the current leadership and
economic problems is a change in leadership through a
snap election.
In an
interview, Gonzalez branded as “illogical” the move of
the House Committee on Suffrage and Electoral Reform to
endorse a bill calling for snap presidential polls,
considering that the next presidential election is just
two years away.
Gonzalez
said a leadership change does not translate to lower
prices of fuel and a stable political situation.
“I don’t
think that will cure the problem of fuel because the
president of this country has no control over fuel
costs. We are at the end of the rope of the Opec
[Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries]. So the
only way we can lower the cost of fuel will be to
subsidize. That will be sacrificing other essential
services. I don’t think that a snap election, assuming
that it would result in a change of leadership, would
solve the problem. It would be a great mistake to spend
billions in a snap election when in two years’ time you
will have another election,” Gonzalez said, in response
to the decision of the House Committee on Suffrage and
Electoral Reform to endorse a bill calling for a snap
presidential election.
Meanwhile, senators are not keen on supporting a bill
calling for snap presidential elections. In separate
interviews, senators expressed serious misgivings over
the move to hold special elections barely 24 months to
the end of President Arroyo’s term on June 30, 2010.
Administration Sen. Miriam Santiago said the House bill
sponsored by Rep. Edno Joson to hold the snap
presidential polls is “unconstitutional.”
“The
term of the president is six years unless he or she is
impeached. Impeachment is the sole process by which you
can remove an elected president during his or her term
of office,”
Santiago
stressed.
“If you
wish to remove the president during her term of office
on another ground, you will be adding to the grounds
provided by the Constitution; therefore, you are either
committing an unconstitutional act by passing that kind
of law and, surely, that will be declared
unconstitutional by the Supreme Court.”
She
suggested that Joson first “campaign to convert Congress
into a constituent assembly so that it can amend the
constitution. But in the form of a law, you cannot
change the constitutional provision on removal of a
sitting president.”
Opposition Sen. Francis Escudero noted that there is no
counterpart bill for a snap elections filed in the
Senate. Escudero also wanted to know how holding snap
elections would bring down skyrocketing prices of oil,
electricity and basic commodities like rice to ease the
burden on the people reeling from higher cost of living.
“I don’t
see it [snap elections] as an answer right now to our
pressing problems,” Escudero added.
Gonzalez
further noted that a snap election is only possible if
there is a law removing the line of succession which is
defined under the Constitution.
If
removal of the President is the only objective, the DOJ
chief said it should be done through impeachment
proceedings or by forcing her to resign.
Earlier,
the House committee on electoral reform chaired by
Makati Rep. Teodoro Locsin Jr., voted to report out the
bill so the entire House of Representatives could debate
in plenary session on the need to hold a presidential
election before President Arroyo’s term ends on June 30,
2010.
The
President’s allies have described Joson’s proposal as
unconstitutional, saying Congress cannot call for a snap
presidential election because the presidency is not
vacant.
However,
even if such a law were to be crafted by Congress,
Gonzalez said President Arroyo will most likely veto it
as she had earlier vowed to finish her term until 2010.
“But
this snap election is almost second to impossible.
Because will the President sign that bill? I don’t think
the President will sign. The President said she will not
resign. It will have a very slim chance of getting a
law. There are many avenues for having a change in
leadership. The moment you call for a snap election,
there will be campaigning and bureaucracy will be on a
standstill,” the DOJ chief added.
Gonzalez
also said the Filipino people are “mature enough” to
realize that a mere change of presidents will not solve
the country’s problems. He also advised Congress to just
wait for the elections in 2010. |
