“Illegal†says former house speaker Jose De Venecia over Defense Secretary Gilberto “Gibo†Teodoro’s nomination as Lakas-Kampi-CMD presidential standard-bearer for 2010 elections.
“Why would they call a national executive committee meeting when there’s yet a Lakas- Kampi-CMD merger,
so the meeting is illegalâ€, de Venecia harped.
Imagine choosing a presidential and vice-presidential candidate when the party is not yet accredited, registered and recognized by the Comelec,†said the former president of Lakas-CMD.
The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has yet to officially recognize the party, which merged with Kabalikat sa Malayang Pilipino (KAMPI) recently.
On De Venecia’s point, Presidential Adviser on Political Affairs Gabby Claudio explained that the September 17 gathering was not a convention but only a part of their selection process.
“The meeting of the national executive committee of Lakas-Kampi-CMD yesterday was not a convention. That was very clear. It’s part of the selection process of the party and we said the essence of that selection process is in the conduct of democratic consultations among the leaders of the party,†he said.
Calaudio, Lakas-CMD secretary general said he is optimistic that the poll body will grant their petition to accredit the merger of the two parties.
“We expect the Comelec to be fair and just in giving due favorable action to the petition of Lakas-Kampi for the immediate registration and accreditation,†he said.
Claudio noted that he finds it ironic that De Venecia is the one questioning the merger when he was the one pushing for it before.
“He was the prime mover of the merger. He signed a document on the merger of the two parties as early as 1998. Since then, he had been pushing for the official merger of the two parties until he lost the speakership and the presidency of Lakas,†Claudio said.
The Comelec is set to issue its decision on the Lakas-Kampi-CMD merger within the month. (PIA)
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