Con-com bans political turncoats under draft federal Charter

Consultative committee Photo by Pathricia Ann V. Roxas/INQUIRER.net

The Consultative Committee (Con-com) tasked by President Rodrigo Duterte to draft a federal Charter has adopted provisions that would eradicate political turncoatism in the country.

In an en banc session on Wednesday, the Con-com finalized and approved three sections which were titled “Political Party Registration,” “Party Candidate Selection and Nomination” and “Party-switching ban.”

Under the section on Party-switching ban, “any member of a political party elected to public office is prohibited from changing political parties within their term of office.”

In addition, “any candidate for public office or any official of a political party is prohibited from changing political parties within two years immediately after an election and two years before the succeeding election.

It also states that candidates who violate these provisions would lose the position to which they were elected, be barred from being immediately appointed to a public office, prohibited from running in the next election, and reimburse funds to his or her party if the group funded his or her campaign.

For the Political Party Registration section, “the State shall ensure the development and strengthening of political parties as mechanisms of citizen representation and democratic governance.”

Financial contributions from foreign governments and their agencies, and criminal sources, “shall be an additional ground for the cancellation of (political parties’) registration with the Commission on Elections, in addition to other penalties that may be prescribed by law.”

Likewise, the section on Party Candidate Selection and Nomination, “political parties shall be freely established and open to all citizens who share the same party program, adhere to the party constitution, and practice party discipline.”

Parties would also assist in democratic public education and promotion of democratic values, as well as providing equal representation of women candidates in every election. /jpv

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