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Disqualification of leftist party-list groups eyed


A youth group will be seeking the disqualification of some left-leaning party-list organizations for allegedly using the party-list system to pursue their own "ideological ends." In a letter to Commission on Elections (Comelec) chairman Jose Melo, the Youth Organizations for the Next Generation of Filipinos (Young Pinoys) said that Bayan Muna, Kabataan Party, Gabriela, and Anakpawis should be de-listed because they are just pursuing "ideological objectives" like overthrowing the ruling system through "bloody means." "It is high time that the party-list system be implemented based on its true spirit as clearly manifested in the country's Constitution. It is... not for some groups with hidden ideological and political agenda," said Young Pinoys president Rodolfo Villena Jr. Villena asserted that the four groups are affiliates of the alliance Bagong Alyansang Makabayan or Bayan, which is supposedly duplicated by Bayan Muna; and of the Makabayan coalition, a political party participating in the 2010 elections for the senatorial candidacies of Bayan Muna Rep. Satur Ocampo and Gabriela Rep. Liza Maza. "The Supreme Court banning the participation of traditional political parties in the party-list system is clear, and as such these party-list should now be stripped of accreditation," he said. Young Pinoys is an accredited party-list representing the youth and students. It will not be participating in the May elections. Bayan Muna, Kabataan Party, Gabriela, and Anakpawis are among the 150 party-list groups that the Commission on Election (Comelec) allowed to participate in the May 10 automated elections. The party-list system is a mechanism of proportional representation in the election of representatives to the House of Representatives from national, regional, and sectoral parties or organizations or coalitions thereof registered with the Comelec. - Kimberly Jane Tan/KBK, GMANews.TV

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