Strengthening political parties

The espousal of an expressed ideology and a vision spelled out in a formally written platform of government are the requisites of a political party seeking to attain political power.

That in its essential content may be part of the ideal that Sen. Edgardo J. Angara, in his proposed Political Party Development Act, is trying to achieve to strengthen the party system instead of just "feeding political motives."

"A strong political party system is imperative for genuine political development and democratization rather than simply feeding political motives," he said.

He said the enactment of his party development proposal would prevent the system of ward politics and what he called "political chameleons" that pervade today's politics.

The Angara proposition comes in the wake of serious misgivings against the kind of party politics that is prevailing today as the country prepares for next year's elections.

Just recently, Sen. Francis Escudero resigned from the Nationalist People's Coalition, the party that was reportedly grooming him as its presidential standard bearer for the 2010 polls.

Escudero said "Political parties have become obstacles to genuine and meaningful change," at the same time, expressing abhorrence to dictations that the party imposes on its candidates.

As has been observed, politicians oftenenough change political parties without qualms whenever they find it convenient for them or in the interest of practical necessity.

Such practice which is prevalent demonstrates the utter lack of commitment to party principles worsened by the absence of ideological moorings.

All this and more distort and pervert the party's supposed decency and moral excellence.

The fact is that political parties serve mainly as vehicles to win votes for their candidates without any expressed ideology or formally written platform of government to guide their memberships. This is best illustrated by the frequent changes in party affiliations of politicians and the absence of party responsibility to the electorate.

It is this that Senator Angara is most concerned about: It could "pose detrimental effects on the party itself and its goals before and after elections, spurring division and deflecting a solid vote turnout rather than forming a unified coalition."

Angara, who is president of the Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino, laments that "the country's party system is confined to personalities rather than issues and platforms."

His proposed Political Party Development Act hopes to provide a governing system based on constitutional legitimacy and principles of law as pillars of the political and social system, preserving sovereignty, security, stability, and national solidarity.

(zhern_218@yahoo.com)