Consultative Committee
MANILA Philippines – The Consultative Committee is proposing a ban on party-switching among politicians and party candidates in the new constitution.
The proposed provisions include:
- Members of a political party elected to public office are prohibited “from changing parties during their term.”
- All candidates and party officials are prohibited “from changing parties two years before and two years after an election.”
- Political parties are prohibited “from accepting ‘transferees’ within the prohibited periods” and “violation is a ground for cancellation of registration.”
Violators, according to the Committee, shall:
- lose the post to which they have been elected
- barred from appointment to any post
- barred from running in the next election
- return any party funds they used for their campaign
According to Dr. Julio Teehankee, Chairman of the Subcommittee on Political Reforms, the proposal aims to address the country’s decade-long problem with party-switching.
He added that no less than the Senators and the Congressmen themselves expressed concern over the issue.
“They have tried to pass the Political Party Development Act since the 12th Congress, since 2003. We are already in the 17th Congress and they have not passed that bill…and just like the anti-political dynasty provision, it underwent the “Monalisa treatment” – it just lied there and died there,” he said.
The proposal does not completely bar a candidate from shifting to another party. However, should he or she decide to switch membership, he or she will be barred from seeking election for a period of four years.
“If you are going to switch parties, you have to sit out an entire term of office,” Teehankee said.
Meanwhile, the Committee stresses that a coalition among parties will not be considered party-switching under the new constitution.
“Pwedeng magsanib ang partido pero ang usapan, partido sa partido. Hindi ka mamimingwit ng NPC at pasusumpain mo sa PDP,” Teehankee concluded.
(Parties may join forces but it has to be party to party. You can’t fish from NPC and swear them in with PDP.)
The Committee is set to ratify the proposal in an En Banc Session on Tuesday, May 1. —Roderic Mendoza | UNTV News & Rescue
The post ConCom proposes ban on party-switching under new constitution appeared first on UNTV News.