Power move Allies oppose snap poll proposal

Manila: Lawmakers have opposed calls for the holding of snap elections as they said that the constitution does not allow such a move.

"Snap elections for the presidency has no legal or constitutional basis at all because the post of the president is not vacant," Representative Annie Rosa Susano of Quezon City said.

Susano, who holds a post graduate degree in political and economic reform from Harvard University, said the constitution is explicit that a snap election can be conducted only if the post of the president, vice president or the senate president is rendered vacant.

Aside from Susano, other members of the House of Representatives reject the holding of snap elections to break the political debacle the country is currently mired in.

Reps Faysah Dumarpa of Lanao del Sur and Nur Jaafar of Tawi-Tawi said the holding of an election out of sync with the poll calendar would only worsen the political situation.

Filipinos elect their president and vice president every six years. President Gloria Arroyo's term expires in 2010. "It would be better if we allow the president to finish her term so that there would be no complications," Dumarpa said.

Instead of holding snap polls, Dumarpa and Jaafar said Congress should push for the full implementation of the law calling for the full automation of the elections and apply it in the forthcoming elections in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).

Rep Eduardo Nonato Joson moved a Bill recently providing for the election on May 4 for the president.

"It is time to bring the power of the people back to their bosoms," Joson said while stressing that conducting a new presidential election will erase doubts on the mandate of President Gloria Arroyo.