Fissured

Two or three years ago, the Liberal Party, a party with a past, did seem to be the party of the future.

An ambitious program of party-building, supported by the Liberal International, was being undertaken. Young talent was flocking to the party – among them, some of the most articulate and forward-looking congressmen, a platoon of new public officials associated with the Arroyo administration and a cadre of "new politicians" rising up from the civil society groups.

The party had a certain élan that set it apart from the rest.

Among the party old guard were likes of Jovito Salonga and Lito Atienza, respected freedom fighters who never yielded to the dictatorship. There was the looming image of martyr Benigno Aquino Jr. in the background. There was the large army of party loyalists holding their respective forts among the local governments.

And then there was the strong tailwind of a party program attuned to the mainstream of modern economic thought. The LP, from its birth, has always been committed to market democracy and economic freedom. This was the party of decontrol and flexible exchange rates as much as it was the party of staunch democrats opposed to authoritarianism in any form.

In a word, this was the party of liberal democracy and economic liberalization.

It had a vision and program that seemed capable of inspiring principled support. It had a colorful history to stand by, as well as the legacy of some of our most esteemed statesmen. It seemed capable of attracting a new generation of leaders who will bring the nation out of patronage and populism.

Then something terrible happened to this party.

Ambitious men, carpetbaggers and political opportunists seemed to have taken control of the party’s destiny. Deep fissures appeared. A power struggle ensued.

The Liberal Party’s prospects for eventual dominance suddenly dimmed. Now the party struggles to repair itself.

The U-turn in the LP’s fortunes began when a faction associated with then Senate President Franklin Drilon found itself entangled with a vain attempt to force President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo from power. Although that attempt had no clear endgame, the Drilon faction invoked the name of the LP even as no consultations with the party rank-and-file happened.

The ouster plot brought forth strange alliances. Some of these alliances involved principles (or the lack of these) as personalities anachronistic to the party’s core values.

That plot eventually dissipated. Some of the rising stars of the LP, who were dragged into the ouster effort, found themselves way out in the political margins.

Despite his role in bringing about a political disaster to a venerable party he joined only lately, Drilon never apologized to party rank-and-file. He never offered to resign to save the party and heal the wounds. On the contrary, he refused calls for a party convention and an election of new leaders.

When an LP meeting ousted Drilon from the leadership, the Drilon faction ousted them back. A small clique barricaded themselves at the party headquarters, refusing consultations and avoiding meetings. The strong effort at party-building lost steam and degenerated into a factional brawl over who controls the party franchise.

Complaining that a rump session of the party was held to oust him, Drilon filed a complaint with the Comelec. Earlier this week, the Comelec finally ruled on the issue in a rather Solomonic way.

There are two parts in the Comelec ruling. One part, which the Drilon factions crows about, invalidates the election that ousted the Drilon leadership and installed a new set of LP officers. The other part, which the Drilon faction rejects even as it was a ruling on their own petition, says that Drilon’s term as party president had expired and that the LP must elect new leaders no later than next month.

Drilon assumed the LP leadership when former LP president Butch Abad had to vacate the post to assume the education portfolio. By the Comelec’s reading of the LP’s internal rules, Drilon had merely assumed the unexpired portion of Abad’s term. That term ended way back in 2005.

The implication is that for over a year, Drilon has been holding on to the LP leadership illegitimately. To date, he seems unwilling to yield to an election involving the party rank-and-file – those who stood by this party for decades. Nay, for generations.

Because the Drilon faction refuses to yield to the Comelec ruling, the LP is back to where it began: a fissured party with squabbling factions and dual leadership structures.

The Liberals associated with the leadership of LP chairman and Manila Mayor Lito Atienza accepts the Comelec ruling. They are now demanding a party convention be called to clarify the party’s political position and elect a unified leadership structure based on that party position.

But the Drilon faction appears hell-bent on holding on to the leadership of the LP by not allowing democracy to be practiced in this party of liberal democrats. The more stubbornly the Drilon faction insists on its undemocratic ways, the less able the LP will be able to get back to the business of party-building.

The Drilon position is understandable – but only from the standpoint of the narrowest factional interest.

The greater number of Liberals is clearly inclined to maintain the alliance with the Arroyo administration. Should democracy be allowed to flourish in a party that precisely stands for democratic practice, the Drilon position will be repudiated – and the obvious political ambitions of people associated with this faction will be dashed.

The Comelec’s Solomonic solution apparently does not provide a formula for the LP’s consolidation and rebuilding.

For as long as the Drilon faction tenaciously clings to the LP franchise without the benefit of inner-party democracy, the party will remain antagonistically divided. As long as it remains that way, it can never again claim to be the party of the future.

It can never again claim to be the party of democracy – not with tyrants at the helm.