THE Obama administration has signaled the strongest message yet that the United States is prepared to intervene to ensure free and clean elections in the Philippines next year.

• The Town That Dreaded Sundown dvdrip

Speaking to reporters at the US Embassy celebration of July 4th on Thursday, US Ambassador Kristie Kenney said “a postponement of the general elections next year will be a cause for concern in Washington.”

This was the bluntest expression of Washington’s concern over the holding of the May 2010 elections, which has created considerable doubts in the country in the face of mixed signals from the Arroyo administration. Kenney could not have been more emphatic.

She unveiled the brass knuckles without the diplomatic niceties. “We believe elections are a good way of renewing democracy,” Kenney reminded Filipinos in a statement that left no doubt that Washington wanted to see a change of administration in next year’s elections.

US concerns over Philippine elections were expressed in the midst of the near-collapse last week of a project of the Commission of Elections (Comelec) to automate the counting of votes to eliminate large-scale rigging of results.

The collapse was averted on Friday, when partners in the consortium that won the contract to undertake the poll automation project resolved their differences and agreed to sign a joint-venture contract under pressure from the Comelec.

Kenney’s statement came a few weeks after US Defense Secretary Robert Gates visited Manila for a few hours. According to press reports, Gates said Washington expected elections to push through in May 2010.

Unease

Washington’s unease over the uncertainty of Philippine elections has been fueled by efforts of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s congressional allies to amend the Constitution to pave the way for a shift to the parliamentary system that would allow Ms Arroyo to extend her term beyond 2010.

Washington’s interventionist mood was underscored by the fact that US President Barack Obama marked Independence Day by calling for a revival of the American “spirit” to confront and resolve problems.

“We are not a people who fear the future,” Obama said. “We are a people who make it. We need to summon the same spirit that inhabited Independence Hall 133 years ago today.”

Last month, the US president responded to criticism that he was too mild in reacting to the crackdown on protests of opposition groups claiming that the hardline Iranian President Mahmoud Almadinejad stole the June 12 election through massive fraud.

Obama called on the Iranian government “to stop all violent and unjust actions against its own people. The universal rights to assembly and free speech must be respected, and the United States stands with all who seek to exercise those rights.”

Ready to denounce cheaters

This tough statement indicates how far the Obama administration is ready to move to denounce measures by any regime to crack down on opposition groups being cheated in elections.

Echoing this theme, Ambassador Kenney told reporters that Washington was not concerned only over the postponement of Philippine elections.

Five Across the Eyes release She also emphasized that Americans believed in term limits. US officials have pointed out that in the 233-year history of the United States, it never failed to hold elections even during the Civil War.

They noted that although President Franklin D. Roosevelt served four terms, the United States imposed a two-term limit that has been followed by succeeding presidents.

The gravity of Washington’s message did not go unnoticed by the Arroyo administration. It immediately issued a statement from Ms Arroyo, who has been angling for a meeting with Obama this year, after three failed attempts.

In a statement for the celebration of Philippine-American Friendship Day on July 4, Ms Arroyo assured the US government that elections would be held as scheduled next year.

“The ties that bind our nations are strong. They are based on family, a shared history and a common commitment to democratic values,” Ms Arroyo said.

Anastasia dvdrip

There is doubt that this statement would reassure Washington that elections would not be postponed. It’s also clear that the Obama administration will not turn a blind eye to any attempt by the Arroyo administration to either cancel the elections or rig them in favor of its candidates.

Constituent assembly The Grudge 2 dvd

The Obama administration is also expected not to countenance the use by Malacañang of its congressional allies to ram through Congress a House resolution convening it into a constituent assembly to approve constitutional amendments for a shift to the parliamentary system.

Big Stan divx The uncertainty over Ms Arroyo’s plans for the elections next year is causing a lot of uneasiness and political instability in the Philippines.

She has earned a pariah status in the Obama administration that has kept her at arm’s length, as the US president is reshaping his foreign policy priorities and reexamining his policy with the Philippines.

• Ben and Me

In plain words, the Arroyo administration, which is now engulfed by corruption scandals, is under close observation in Washington and enjoys little confidence in the White House.

The Obama administration, in its present mood relative to the Philippines and to countries with regimes curtailing free elections, cannot be less inclined than previous US administrations to intervene in the Philippines against attempts to rig the 2010 polls to extend Ms Arroyo’s stay in power.

This article is not a brief for US intervention in our elections. Should Ms Arroyo tamper with the 2010 elections, there are more than enough countervailing forces that will try to thwart cheating.

Popular movements

In an electoral crisis, the United States would no doubt come in to support popular movements and knock out legitimacy from regimes about to fall.

That happened in Edsa I in 1986. Washington pulled out its support for Ferdinand Marcos after it became clear that he rigged the presidential election and that people power had swept him out of Malacañang.

• Mimi wo sumaseba download

Obama no doubt would come in to deliver the last blow in the event of tumult over election rigging after outraged Filipinos had done the job of expelling incumbents from Malacañang.

This time, however, we are not sure if Obama would come in to the rescue to offer asylum, as President Ronald Reagan did when he ordered the US Air Force to snatch Marcos and family from the howling mob, and hijacked them to Honolulu.

Leave a Reply