54% of Pinoys back FVR’s Cha-cha proposal — SWS

About 54 percent of Filipinos agree with former President Fidel Ramos’ proposal that President Arroyo leave office before the end of her term and fewer than half want her to become prime minister in a parliamentary system of government, according to a nationwide opinion poll.

Pollster Social Weather Stations (SWS) said Ramos’ proposal was the most popular among five main ideas for amending the 1987 Constitution in its survey conducted in December.

In a press briefing last Monday, Ramos reiterated a proposal he made last year, that Mrs. Arroyo step down and push for a shift to a parliamentary system of government to speed up the country’s development and resolve the lingering political crisis hounding Mrs. Arroyo.

Ramos’ original timetable was for the President to step down this year. Last Monday, he suggested she step down in June 2007.

Fifty-four percent of Filipinos agree with the suggestion while 20 percent disagree, the SWS poll showed.

Among those who favor the proposal, 54 percent said Mrs. Arroyo should step down in 2005, 30 percent said this year, eight percent said in 2007 and six percent said either in 2008 or 2009.

Asked if they wanted Mrs. Arroyo to be eligible to become prime minister, 43 percent disapproved while 24 percent favored the idea. Twenty-eight percent were undecided.

On the proposal to have only members of parliament elect the president, SWS found mixed opinions with 32 percent approving, 34 percent disapproving and 30 percent undecided.

"This split opinion result is a marked change from many previous SWS polls which had showed a great reluctance of Filipino voters to give up the tradition of voting directly for the president of the Philippines," SWS said in a statement.

The SWS interviewed 1,200 Filipinos for the poll, which was conducted from Nov. 27 to Dec. 4. It had a margin of error of plus or minus three percentage points.

Ramos said Mrs. Arroyo should voluntarily step down next year instead of continuing to hang on to power despite being hounded by a credibility crisis that he warned would hamper the economy.

Ramos, who has remained by Mrs. Arroyo’s side amid her most serious political crisis, urged her on Monday to end her term next year, then run for parliament under a new Constitution that would scrap the US-style two-chamber Congress and presidential system in favor of a federal-parliamentary parliament.

Ramos emphasized his support for Mrs. Arroyo was waning, but he was giving her a chance to take steps to put the country in order.

Mrs. Arroyo has rejected Ramos’ call for her to step down, according to her spokesman.

Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye said talk of cutting Mrs. Arroyo’s term at this point is "premature." She would only cut short her six-year term, which expires in mid-2010, if the ratified amendments to the Constitution called for it.

Mrs. Arroyo won the 2004 elections by a slim margin, then was accused last year of corruption and rigging the polls. The allegation set off her worst crisis and prompted 10 Cabinet members and advisers to resign and her key allies — including former President Corazon Aquino and Senate President Franklin Drilon — to abandon her.

Some say Ramos’ support at her darkest moment prevented Mrs. Arroyo’s downfall. But he has grown increasingly frustrated after his proposed reforms failed to materialize.

He strongly protested a proposal by the presidential consultative commission to postpone next year’s general elections, calling it a blow to democracy.

It was speculated that Ramos and Mrs. Arroyo had fallen out over his proposal for her to cut short her term.