By Prof. Alex Magno
This is a continuation of last Thursday’s discussion on the problems confronting our practice of democratic politics.
Considering all the structural constraints on the full blossoming of democratic practice in the country, how do we proceed?
Time is running short. The 2010 elections is fast approaching. It will be a severe stress test on our institutions and our democratic faith.
If we become path-dependent, continue with politics as usual, the next government will be as tenuous as this one. It will continue to be besieged by hostile political factions trying very hard for the established authority to fail. There will be more political circuses, more scandal-mongering and more unseemly alliances among opportunists.
By 2010, the Gloria Macapagal Arroyo presidency will be the second longest-serving administration in our Republic’s history. The longest one was Ferdinand Marcos’. But that was unduly extended by martial rule and dramatically terminated by means of an uprising.
The fact that this administration survived is a feat by itself.
The constitutional structure within which we operate is designed to doom the presidency. The single-term provision makes the incumbent a lame duck on Day One. The multiparty electoral system condemns every winning candidate to the top post to the status of minority president, vulnerable to being held hostage by every political bloc that could muster votes in the Congress for an impeachment or mount a sustained campaign to diminish the President’s popularity and political capital. Read more...
This is a continuation of last Thursday’s discussion on the problems confronting our practice of democratic politics.
Considering all the structural constraints on the full blossoming of democratic practice in the country, how do we proceed?
Time is running short. The 2010 elections is fast approaching. It will be a severe stress test on our institutions and our democratic faith.
If we become path-dependent, continue with politics as usual, the next government will be as tenuous as this one. It will continue to be besieged by hostile political factions trying very hard for the established authority to fail. There will be more political circuses, more scandal-mongering and more unseemly alliances among opportunists.
By 2010, the Gloria Macapagal Arroyo presidency will be the second longest-serving administration in our Republic’s history. The longest one was Ferdinand Marcos’. But that was unduly extended by martial rule and dramatically terminated by means of an uprising.
The fact that this administration survived is a feat by itself.
The constitutional structure within which we operate is designed to doom the presidency. The single-term provision makes the incumbent a lame duck on Day One. The multiparty electoral system condemns every winning candidate to the top post to the status of minority president, vulnerable to being held hostage by every political bloc that could muster votes in the Congress for an impeachment or mount a sustained campaign to diminish the President’s popularity and political capital. Read more...
Blogged with the Flock Browser
No comments:
Post a Comment