"Banning dynasties will not solve our political woes."
"Banning dynasties will not solve our political woes."
(Part 1)
Political dynasties are not the problem, and enacting a ban on political dynasties will not solve anything. The hard truth is that imposition of term limits on elected public officials has led to the emergence of political dynasties, where upon reaching the term limits, spouses and children of incumbent politicians are fielded in the next political contest.
Political dynasties, rather, are merely symptomatic of an even graver political problem—a weak political party system. Without strong political parties, a pattern of political dynasties almost inevitably persists. Banning political dynasties will not address the issue of a weak political party system, but instead it will do the opposite – hinder good potential candidates from running for public office, simply because of family ties to incumbent elected officials.
Banning political dynasties will not solve our political woes. Strengthening political parties is the surest way to ensure inclusive political participation.
Political parties are essential to a democracy. They play an important role in building a stable and mature democratic political system that is responsive to the needs of the people. They have the unique role in shaping public opinion, inspiring and furthering political education, and promoting active public participation in political life. Through an open and inclusive exchange of beliefs and ideas, ideally within established political parties, democracy attains not only the participation, but the trust of the larger community. Strengthening political parties, therefore, require a flexible mix of principles, underlying interests, democratic practices and rational decision-making.
Sadly, this has not been the case in the Philippines in recent years.
Instead of serving as the main mechanism for political representation, political parties in the country have been reduced to mere platforms to mobilize electoral support for candidates. As a result, oftentimes, political parties are too focused on the electoral contest, without regard for the more important of role in ensuring good governance and imparting democratic political ideas. Needless to say, we often tend to overlook the fact that political parties are basic institutions of a democratic system That is probably why, political re-alignments, with politicians transferring from one party to another have become too familiar a feature in Philippine politics. In fact, in the last two months, there have been news about a number of members of Congress transferring from one party to another.
Political turncoatism is another symptom of a weak political party system. More often than not, the rewards of joining another political party outweigh one’s party loyalty. Contrary to what many political outsiders think, changing party affiliation is not a decision that a politician takes lightly. But for as long as our political party system remains weak, pragmatism and practicability will influence the decisions of elected politicians to abandon their original party affiliation and transfer to the party in power.
In order to strengthen our political party system, there are four critical requirements: Membership, party nomination, party discipline and funding.
Currently, political parties in the Philippines may be classified as either national, regional, sectoral and local parties. It is fundamental that the membership in a specific political party should reflect its classification, and a minimum membership quota must be imposed in accrediting political parties.
For example, for a political party to be considered a national political party, it must reach a minimum membership quota, for example at least 3 percent, of the total voter population in each of at least two-thirds of all the regions in the country. Same with regional and local parties – they must have a minimum membership of 3 percent in at least two-thirds of all the constituent cities and municipalities of the region or province. To realize this, party members must be required to register and declare their party affiliation before the Commission on Elections. This information must be included in the voter registration.
In order to secure the role of political parties in the electoral exercise, candidates for political for political office must be either nominated by a registered political party or run as independent candidates. But it is important that such political party must meet the minimum membership quota for it to be able to nominate a candidate for such position. For example, a party can only nominate a candidate for a provincial position, only if the same party has met the required minimum number of registered party members in the same province. Therefore, a candidate for president must be nominated by a national political party that has a membership of least 3 percent of the total registered voters in at least two-thirds of all the regions of the country. If a province has ten towns, a candidate for governor must be nominated by a political party that has a membership of least 3 percent of the total registered voters in at least seven municipalities in the same province.
Continued this week
