Political Analyst: EDSA Revolution Failed Due to Lack of People's Party
A political commentator has reiterated a critical assessment of the EDSA Revolution, asserting that its inability to usher in a new era of principled, just, and service-oriented governance was fundamentally due to the absence of a people's party. According to the analysis, such a party could have seized government from the Marcos dynasty and implemented a genuinely democratic system. Instead, power merely transferred to another dynasty, leaving the nation no better off forty years later.
The Lesson of People Power
The key lesson highlighted is that indignation rallies, regardless of their scale, are ultimately futile without a people's party to take over government and enact the changes desired by the populace. While spontaneous people power can oust undesirable public officials, only a solidly organized people's party can introduce a system that provides the greater good for the majority, as seen in true democracies.
Funding and Formation of Political Parties
In successful democracies, governments allocate budgets for the formation and operation of political parties. This ensures all sectors have equal opportunities to form parties and compete fairly for governance. However, in what is described as a failing democracy, people are left to their own meager resources, allowing only the wealthy to establish parties that alternately control the country's wealth and resources.
Requirements for Party Accreditation
For parties to be accredited and qualify for government funding, they must meet specific requirements:
- A well-defined ideology or socio-economic philosophy, such as capitalist, socialist, or communist.
- A clear style of governance, like democrat or big government, republican or small government, or federalist or centralized systems.
Additional requirements include:
- A minimum number of card-carrying party members.
- An education program to immerse members in the party's social philosophy and governance style.
- A code of discipline to prevent arbitrary transfers to other parties and deviations from guiding principles.
- The mandate to field only candidates elected by card-carrying members at party conventions.
Ensuring Majority Rule
In truly democratic countries, majority rule is ensured through run-off elections when no party or candidate secures a majority of votes, preventing wins by mere plurality. Vote counting is streamlined by mainstreaming the party-list system, where people vote for parties rather than individual candidates, making computerization—often prone to cheating—unnecessary. In contests for multiple seats, such as in councils or congresses, the percentage of votes a party receives determines the percentage of seats it fills with its listed candidates.
A Call to Action
These features are identified as hallmarks of successful democracies worldwide. The commentator emphasizes that no moral exhortation by bishops or massive rallies by indignant crowds can liberate society from systemic injustice and poverty. Instead, it is time to choose a path and painstakingly organize a people's party capable of capturing power to integrate these features into the democracy.
The analysis concludes with a stark metaphor: society must stop merely deciding between being consumed by different predatory forces, such as the Tiger Shark or Great White Shark, that menace the turbulent seas of Philippine politics. The only way forward is through organized, democratic reform led by a genuine people's party.
