GO told to name dominant minority party

Elections Chairman Benjamin Abalos on Thursday assured members of the opposition that they would get the copy of the election returns (ER) for the May 14 balloting. “We are inclined to give the sixth copy of election returns to the opposition in order to level the playing field and the preserve the check and balance [in the elections]," said Abalos during an en banc session. “The purpose of giving the two parties a piece of the election return is for check and balance. So we want to preserve this so we are giving one to the opposition and one for the administration," he added. In an earlier interview, Abalos said the opposition may not get the sixth copy of the ERs if they were to follow what is stated in the Omnibus Election Code. Sources from the Commission on Elections on the other hand revealed that a resolution regarding the declaration as to which will be the dominant majority party and the dominant minority party has already been drafted. "It is being routed now to the commissioners and expect it be issued next week," the source said. Asked who was declared as the dominant majority and the dominant minority parties the insider replied "just wait for it because you'll be surprised." The official though hinted that the Lakas-CMD could be declared as the dominant majority party because it has the biggest number of officials elected during the May 2004 polls. But Abalos said there is no resolution yet and even asked the election lawyers representing the political parties to “decide among themselves" on who will be recognized as dominant majority and dominant minority parties in order to spare the poll body from making the decision. However, lawyer Sixto Brillantes said that there is no need for that since the opposition has been “historically" recognized as the dominant minority party and should stay that way. He said the opposition camp will push for the United Opposition (UNO) to become the “dominant minority party" because it’s the only listed political coalition. Moreover, Brillantes said the newly signed Republic Act 9369 or the Automated Election System also stated that instead of six there should be eight political parties that should be allowed to field their poll watchers. Abalos said they will examine the law as some of the commissioners are not aware of the specified provision. The dominant majority and minority parties are determined based on the number of elected officials from the previous elections as well as the number of members vying for elective positions in 2007. Aside from Lakas-CMD, other political parties contending for the dominant minority position are Kampi and the National People’s Coalition, which are identified with the administration while UNO he said is not recognized as a political party because they registered as a coalition. Lakas-CMD and UNO both filed their petitions to be recognized as dominant majority and minority parties, respectively. Abalos, meantime, gave political parties five days to submit their respective position papers justifying their intentions to be accredited as one of the six major political parties that will be entitled to deploy poll watchers in the midterm elections. Out of the 35 parties invited, only 12 came with their respective lawyers. - GMANews.TV