House should dump harebrained speakership term-sharing scheme
Credit to Author: The Manila Times| Date: Sun, 30 Jun 2019 16:13:59 +0000
WHOEVER came up with the idea of term-sharing the speakership of the House of Representatives must be an aspirant who is incapable of mustering the votes on his own to get over the hump.
On analysis, it is plain as day that it is only the weaker aspirant who benefits from a term-sharing arrangement. He benefits because he will be able to transform a weak hand into a winning advantage.
The strong aspirant does not benefit because he is giving away an advantage, which is rightfully his, and can propel him into the speakership.
The House of Representatives as an institution will not benefit from term-sharing at all. The scheme will dilute the chamber’s strength of numbers and compromise its advantage in dealing with the Senate.
Congress will be weakened in the process because of the lame duck status of the speaker.
Finally, the nation will also lose from getting a weak speaker astride a carousel.
This is particularly worrisome because the speaker is the third in line to succeed the president after the vice president and the Senate president.
For these considerations alone, we think the House as a collective body should dismiss outright the term-sharing scheme as untenable and self-defeating, before the 18th Congress formally convenes for its inaugural session on July 22. It will be best if the chamber enters that historic day without questionable baggage
The speaker aspirant who is now most insistent about a term-sharing arrangement for the House speakership is evidently Taguig congressman-elect Alan Peter Cayetano.
He has lately gone around town blasting his speakership rival Marinduque Rep. Lord Allan Velasco for denying that the two of them had agreed on a term-sharing deal for the position.
House members, coming from various parties and blocs, unanimously think that term-sharing the speakership would only be “counter-productive” for the chamber
Cayetano’s attempt to drag the President into the picture is puerile because this is not the President’s business at all; this is the business of another branch of our government. It is the House members who will elect the speaker on July 22.
The President at best can advise or cajole his party mates and allies in the expected House majority to vote in a certain way. This is not his call; he was right to say the first time that he would not meddle in the speaker’s race, and would leave the matter to the chamber to resolve.
Cayetano appears to be the one pressing for a time-sharing deal because he has the weakest hand to play. He has advanced the view that if a term-sharing arrangement is forged between him and Velasco, he will be the first one to serve as speaker.
This is blatant self-seeking and too tawdry for us to behold.
The search for House speaker should go back to the essential considerations. This means answering the following questions:
Who is the aspirant who can best provide leadership to the House so that it can stand strong as an institution in our government system?
Who can best put together the collective support of House members so that the House can successfully push forward the administration’s ambitious agenda in the next three years?
Who is the aspirant who has the ability for coalition-building, the political acumen and intellectual aptitude to uphold the powers and dignity of the House?
In the last analysis, the speaker must be a leader who is personally capable of persuading others to follow his lead and serve the cause of the nation.
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