An HTML-version of this newsletter is available at http://www.fnf.org.ph/enewsletter/ltm122005.htm ************************************************************** Liberal Times Manila
A monthly newsletter of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation’s Philippine Office ************************************************************** Dear friends of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation, 8/12/2005 After an extended disruption Liberal Times Manila, the monthly electronic newsletter of the Philippine office of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation, is back, and there are several points I wish to share with you. >From a liberal vantage point the past months have been challenging. The >political turmoil caused by the wiretapping controversy has affected also our >partner political organizations. From the onset of the crisis, it was clear >that the Foundation had to remain neutral. This said, I am encouraged by signs >of unity coming from various sectors of the Philippine Liberal family. I share >with many fellow Liberals the hope that the upcoming celebrations of the >Liberal Party of the Philippines’ 60th anniversary in mid-January may also be >an opportunity to re-establish political unity. Among the successful activities sponsored by the Foundation since I last wrote allow me to highlight the Council of Asian Liberals and Democrats (CALD) workshop entitled “Political Parties and the Internet” in Kuala Lumpur. You’ll find all the details at www.cald.org. Preparing for the seminar, which brought together communications experts from all corners of Asia, I became involved with weblogs (or blogs), online journals which are increasingly popular also in this part of the world. In the end, I put up my own blog and named it (surprise, surprise) my liberal times. If you are interested in a foreigner’s perspective of Philippine political issues, www.myliberaltimes.blogspot.com might be the place to go to. Speaking of digital media, I should mention that the Regional Working Group for an ASEAN Human Rights Mechanism (RWG) has recently re-launched its website. The Manila-based Working Group has contributed significantly to the efforts to set up an intergovernmental human rights mechanism in this part of the world. For updates and background go to www.aseanhrmech.org. Furthermore, on a national level, the Philippine Working Group has networked with local human rights groups to secure their support for the regional mechanism. If you are interested in human rights advocacy, which is at the very heart of liberal politics, please join the “Kapihan on the Philippine Human Rights Situation Today” to be held in commemoration of World Human Rights Day on December 12, 2006 at 9:00 a.m. at the Rembrandt Hotel in Quezon City. Finally, I am happy to inform you that the 2006-program of the International Academy for Leadership (IAF) is now posted on our Website. The one-to two week workshops in Germany tackle issues of global liberal concern, such as local autonomy, human rights, deregulation and youth politics. Next year’s program will also have a stronger online focus with no less than four online seminars. For information on all this and more go to www.fnf.org.ph. Thank you for your kind interest and Merry Christmas! (Dr. Ronald Meinardus) ************************************************************* The monthly Liberal Times Manila newsletter informs about activities of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation in the Philippines and beyond. This issue has been sent to 1787 individuals and organizations. If you do not wish to receive our messages anymore, please return this note and put “unsubscribe” in the subject. More information on recent FNF-activities is waiting for you at www.fnf.org.ph. ************************************************************** Revisiting the Philippine Political Crisis By Ronald Meinardus … To understand the underlying factors of the crisis besetting the Arroyo presidency, one must consider the ramifications of the ouster of her predecessor. Estrada and his political allies have still not accepted the 2001 fait accompli and continue to see themselves as the legitimate rulers. Arguably, the best chance Estrada and his supporters had for revenge was the 2004 general elections, when the former President managed to persuade his friend and actor colleague Fernando Poe Jr. to step into the political arena. Due to his unparalleled popularity, Poe’s victory should have been a foregone conclusion. Had it not been for the presidential ambitions of an oppositionist senator who effectively split the anti-GMA-vote, Mrs. Arroyo wouldn’t have won. As in 2001, the Estrada camp once more refused to concede defeat. Despite all surveys, exit polls and the final congressional canvass showing Mrs. Arroyo as the winner, the opposition still cried foul and accused her of manipulating the outcome. From the first day of her second term, a legitimacy crisis has hounded Mrs. Arroyo’s presidency. The crisis entered a new phase this June when recordings of wiretapped telephone conversations surfaced with voices sounding like those of the president and a senior official of the Commission on Elections. The public widely regarded the audio tapes as proof that Mrs. Arroyo had sought Commissioner Garcilliano’s assistance in rigging the outcome of the vote. Politically the president reached a low point on July 8, when in the course of a few hours powerful former supporters turned their back on her and called for her resignation or threatened her with impeachment. In those hectic times, the talk in Manila was not whether GMA would survive; the issue was whether she would hold on for hours, days or – for the most generous observers - weeks. To the surprise of many, the besieged president fought back. Today, half a year later, most observers agree Mrs. Arroyo’s position has stabilized. They attribute the president’s political survival to strategic coalition building (and her politicking) as well as a general trend in Philippine society that favors the political status quo. Importantly, in the crucial moments of June 2005, the military remained neutral, as did the influential Catholic Church. In Philippine politics these two institutions are crucial, and both played a decisive role in the popular uprisings of 1986 and 2001. The support from local government officials has also been important for the president’s political survival. Looking at the results of the 2004 polls this is no surprise, as more than 80 percent of all available seats went to local candidates of the presidential coalition. Presidential patronage politics ensures support in the provinces; it shows that local autonomy provides a political powerbase for the central government. The president has also profited from the shortcomings of her opponents. Their lack of unity is probably the most harmful. At no time did the opposition go beyond being a mere single-purpose movement to remove the president from office. Made up of a politically peculiar alliance of Estrada-supporters, the Communist Party of the Philippines and its front organizations and members of the so called middle forces, whose home is the political center, this loose alliance could not field a figurehead to challenge the president and serve as an alternative. This void is particularly damaging in an environment where politics revolves around personalities and is not based on political parties and their ideologies. Future historians will probably come to the conclusion that the most important factor benefiting the president was the political apathy of the masses. While survey after survey has documented that a majority of Filipinos are unhappy with the incumbent and wouldn’t mind seeing her quit today rather than tomorrow, only a small minority is willing to go to the streets and join protest rallies. … © The Korea Times: December 6, 2005 ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Get fast access to your favorite Yahoo! Groups. 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