Pimentel wants oppositionist as 7th Comelec commissioner - Malaya 06.30.2006
SENATE minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr. yesterday pressed for the appointment of an opposition member to the last vacant slot in the seven-man Commission on Elections (Comelec).
Pimentel said this would allay people’s fears that there would be massive cheating in the 2007 polls to ensure the victory of administration candidates.
"The Comelec should be non-partisan. Putting members of the Comelec on the basis of party considerations is a bad thing. But it may be justified only by extreme circumstances such as, for instance, the environment surrounding the Comelec today where loyalty to the President as the appointing power appears to be the rule," he said.
Pimentel did not give a short-list of would-be candidates for the Comelec commissioner’s post but stressed that the opposition nominee should be credible and beyond question. "So that the people may know about the innermost workings of the Comelec and be assured of their transparency and integrity, they must be have someone whose probity is beyond question," he said.
He said people are apprehensive that the coming polls will again be marred by large-scale cheating with the continued presence of Comelec chair Benjamin Abalos Sr.
The senator said Abalos is widely perceived to be beholden to Malacañang and suspected to have conspired with former Comelec Commissioner Virgilio Garcillano in rigging the results of the 2004 elections.
He stressed that "without a reformed and a revamped Comelec, the Filipino people will remain cynical about President Arroyo’s pledge to cleanse the electoral process."
The opposition senator also lamented that the recommendation of retired Chief Justice Hilario Davide Jr, in his capacity as presidential adviser on electoral reforms, for a revamp of the Comelec has not been implemented.
The current Comelec commissioners aside from Chairman Abalos are Resurreccion Borra, Florentino Tuason, Romeo Brawner, Rene Sarmiento and Nicodemo Ferrer. – Dennis Gadil
Pimentel said this would allay people’s fears that there would be massive cheating in the 2007 polls to ensure the victory of administration candidates.
"The Comelec should be non-partisan. Putting members of the Comelec on the basis of party considerations is a bad thing. But it may be justified only by extreme circumstances such as, for instance, the environment surrounding the Comelec today where loyalty to the President as the appointing power appears to be the rule," he said.
Pimentel did not give a short-list of would-be candidates for the Comelec commissioner’s post but stressed that the opposition nominee should be credible and beyond question. "So that the people may know about the innermost workings of the Comelec and be assured of their transparency and integrity, they must be have someone whose probity is beyond question," he said.
He said people are apprehensive that the coming polls will again be marred by large-scale cheating with the continued presence of Comelec chair Benjamin Abalos Sr.
The senator said Abalos is widely perceived to be beholden to Malacañang and suspected to have conspired with former Comelec Commissioner Virgilio Garcillano in rigging the results of the 2004 elections.
He stressed that "without a reformed and a revamped Comelec, the Filipino people will remain cynical about President Arroyo’s pledge to cleanse the electoral process."
The opposition senator also lamented that the recommendation of retired Chief Justice Hilario Davide Jr, in his capacity as presidential adviser on electoral reforms, for a revamp of the Comelec has not been implemented.
The current Comelec commissioners aside from Chairman Abalos are Resurreccion Borra, Florentino Tuason, Romeo Brawner, Rene Sarmiento and Nicodemo Ferrer. – Dennis Gadil
posted by brodkaster43 at Biyernes, Hunyo 30, 2006
0 Comments:
Mag-post ng isang Komento
<< Home