Opposition groups unite in new party for 2007 polls

With the impeachment case against President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo virtually dead, administration critics are now gearing up for the 2007 polls. The United Opposition (UNO), an umbrella organization of all those opposed to or critical of Mrs Arroyo, asked Thursday the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to be officially recognized as a political party authorized to field candidates in national and local elections. GMA-7's dzBB quoted Makati City Mayor Jejomar Binay as saying that the application with the Comelec is in preparation for the 2007 senatorial elections, where the new party - to be called Partido UNO - plans to field its own senatorial ticket. The new political party is a merger of the Partido ng Masang Pilipino (PMP) of former President Joseph Estrada, the PDP-Laban of Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr and other small opposition groups. Radio reports indicated that former Vice President Teofisto Guingona, former Senators Francisco Tatad, Ernesto Maceda and Anna Dominique Coseteng, and former Quezon City Mayor Mel Mathay are among the individual members of the new party. Binay said his group would push for orderly, peaceful and clean elections next year. He added that it also aims to "get more congressional seats so we can beat political allies of PGMA (President Arroyo) in the House of Representatives" when fresh impeachment bids against the President are initiated again next year. Estrada had earlier said his PMP has been exploring the possibility of merging with other political parties, like the PDP-Laban and the Liberal Party, for purposes of fielding a "strong ticket" in the elections. The LP wing of Sen. Franklin Drilon has also started exploratory talks with the Nacionalista Party of Senate President Manuel Villar, who is seeking re-election come 2007.-GMANews.TV