Making 2010 Elections our shot at change…again
- 2010 Elections -
By Joy Aceron
LET me start by sharing pieces of a puzzle that form the concept of a project called the Citizens Reform Agenda 2010 (CRA 2010), an initiative of the Ateneo School of Government (ASoG) in partnership with other civil society groups.
With the kind of politics that we have in our country, we cannot overemphasize the significance of the forthcoming national elections, particularly that of the president, given the enormous powers that are lodged in the said position. If we are to undertake an initiative to improve the country’s political state of affairs, the take-off point should be the 2010 elections, particularly the presidential elections. What can be done to make it work?
With the 2010 elections in mind, we first turn to the electoral system. It is not good. In fact, it is so bad that saying so has already become a cliché. The credibility of the supposed manager of the elections, the Commission on Elections (COMELEC), is severely tarnished by the outcome of the preceding national elections. The election laws, including laws on campaign financing, remain problematic and weak. The structural design of the electoral system remains flawed, which makes constitutional change a seeming imperative that can no longer be ignored.
However, there are shimmers of light. You have a new Chair and a few newly appointed Commissioners, one of whom came from the ranks of reform advocates. There is an effort to automate and reform the system; and there is — or what seems like — an opening to citizens groups.
