Editorial:
Political crisis is fertile ground for revolution

Basahin ang artikulong ito sa Pilipino

A grave political crisis is on the verge of erupting. Already intense conflicts among rival reactionary factions have been exacerbated by the most fraud-ridden, violent and chaotic election in Philippine history and by excessive repression against progressives. The next regime will never be at ease.

The polls have brought intra-reactionary disputes to an extremely high level. The fraud and repression perpetrated against progressive parties and candidates that participated in the elections have further outraged the people against the government, its armed forces and rabid reactionaries, especially since more than a third of those slain during the election period were candidates, leaders and organizers of progressive parties.

Arroyo's camp wants to make it appear that she has managed to best her leading rival for the presidency despite the fact that the people have massively repudiated her. She used government personnel and huge amounts of government funds and resources, including her tight control over the COMELEC, AFP and other armed forces of the reactionary state to manipulate the election results. This, Arroyo's leading rival could never accept. Neither could this be swallowed by the people who despise the Arroyo regime so intensely.

Both the Arroyo and Fernando Poe Jr. cliques are claiming victory. Due to the heightened animosity surrounding the canvassing of votes for president and vice president by the congress in joint session, it will take a very long time before the winners of the electoral race could be proclaimed. The reactionary opposition has likewise been relentlessly coming up with maneuver after maneuver. It would not be farfetched if neither the winning president nor the vice president could be proclaimed by the June 30 deadline. In the history of reactionary polls in the Philippines, the recent electoral exercise is without precedent in being fraught with dissension and being excruciatingly slow in resolving who has won the presidential race.

Because Arroyo has the majority in congress on her side, her proclamation can be railroaded. Nonetheless, expos�s of systematic and widespread fraud, the tiny difference between Arroyo and Poe's votes and new cases of plunder and anomalies being dredged against the Arroyo regime will greatly put to doubt the legitimacy of Arroyo's continued hold on power.

The Arroyo regime will always feel restive as it sits in power in Malaca�ang. Gloria Arroyo's reign will forever be hounded by such weakness until her eventual ouster. All this portends great political upheaval, serves as a condition for even more heightened conflicts and provokes violent clashes among the reactionaries.

Arroyo's rivals will not relent in exploiting every opportunity to attack and bring her down. The ruling regime will continue to find itself in a defensive position and feel the need to protect itself in the face of its extremely unstable status.

The revolutionary forces and the people must expose and take advantage of the situation that the reactionary ruling classes and the government find themselves in, in order to more effectively fight reactionary rule as a whole and advance revolutionary struggle.

More than this, this also serves as a condition for the revolutionary forces to strengthen themselves, expand the revolutionary united front as well as tactical alliances, advance both armed and unarmed struggles, obtain tactical advantages and greatly advance revolutionary and people's struggles.

07 June 2004
English Edition

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