‘No-el could cause more instability’

National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales said yesterday the proposal of the presidential consultative commission (con-com) and some local officials and lawmakers to scrap the 2007 elections could trigger more instability in the country.

Gonzales said the current political situation requires that the people should be consulted on whether to replace their leaders or not, though he expressed confidence that the administration will emerge victorious in the 2007 elections owing to a divided opposition.

He said he was only expressing his opinion, which he would fight for even at the cost of his job — both as national security adviser and as chairman of the Partido Demokratiko Sosyalista ng Pilipinas (PDSP).

"Given the kind of situation that we have politically, instead of thinking of no elections, precisely, we must think of elections," Gonzales said at the Newsmakers forum at the Ambassador Hotel in Manila. "This is the time when the mandate of the people should be consulted."

"I think it will be destabilizing if we consider no elections in 2007," he added.

He also said the PDSP will support the people’s initiative to allow amendments to the 1987 Constitution as sought by local executives if this initiative is deemed legal and constitutional by the courts.

The "no-el" was first proposed by the con-com in its report to President Arroyo in December last year. According to the con-com, scrapping the 2007 elections will make the shift to a parliamentary system smoother, save the government money and allow the synchronization of elections every five years.

The controversial con-com proposal also seeks to extend the terms of incumbent elected officials and legislators to 2010 and make incumbent legislators automatic members of the interim parliament from 2007 until the end of Mrs. Arroyo’s term.

The ruling Lakas-Christian and Muslim Democrats (Lakas-CMD) is reportedly going to discuss the matter of scrapping the 2007 midterm elections in its national directorate meeting tonight, where party leaders are expected to agree upon referring the issue to the people in a plebiscite, along with the draft constitution being hammered out in Congress.

Gonzales said he has not yet expressed his opinion on the matter to the President, but added that he believes Mrs. Arroyo will also reject the proposal to scrap the 2007 polls, whether or not the proposal is well-intentioned.

He said the public discussions on Charter change have been reduced to debating on various proposed transitory provisions or on whether or not Mrs. Arroyo should serve the remainder of her term as a transition president, as well as whether or not the President should step down.