|
Home>News Center>World | |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
Arroyo says crises inevitable under current system
The Philippines will be plagued by instability until it changes its political system, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo said Wednesday. Facing impeachment over vote-rigging allegations, Arroyo held her first news conference Wednesday since her worst crisis erupted two months ago, paralyzing the government and sparking clamor for her to resign with nearly four years left in her term. As with the rest of her recent charm offensive, it was a carefully crafted event. Foreign media were turned away at the presidential palace, and the questions by local reporters were vetted in advance by Arroyo's staff, leaving no room for controversy.
She also did not directly answer whether she would be willing to leave office early if Congress takes up her suggestion to amend the constitution and switch to a parliamentary form of government, which likely would mean fresh elections as early as next year. Arroyo, who has taken a business-as-usual approach throughout the crisis, was asked whether the crisis was over. "Our country will continuously have crisis until we have changed the system," Arroyo said. "This system over the years has been deteriorating, so this is the result. So we have to make fundamental change in the system," she added. "Economic reforms will continue and we've already completed the most difficult phase. But the more difficult challenge is political reform. The nation has been divided. We're poised to fly if we would only stop weighing down our wings with the burdens of our own making." The impeachment complaint alleges Arroyo "cheated and lied" to obtain and hold power. Arroyo has denied manipulating the closely fought May 2004 poll. She has said she's ready to face an impeachment trial to clear her name. The scandal, coupled with accusations her family received kickbacks from illegal gambling, has stoked new military restiveness and highlighted the poor Southeast Asian nation's constant struggle with political instability. In her state of the nation address Monday, Arroyo also ignored the impeachment complaint and called for an overhaul of the country's democratic institutions to shift from the current U.S.-style presidential system. Such a move could help end the Philippines' massive "people power" street protests that may be turning into a tool for destabilizing governments. In a parliamentary system, lawmakers can vote out a sitting government without the often lengthy hearings necessary to impeach a president. Spokesman Ignacio Bunye said Arroyo, whose approval ratings have plunged to all-time lows, was to embark soon on a tour of provinces to try to generate support for the government reform plan. The 58-year-old U.S.-educated economist has shunned media interviews in the last two months and used taped television or radio broadcasts to get her message across.
|
|
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
