Swelling street protests vs. election fraud, violence seen--CPP
May 16, 2004

The CPP today said that widespread restiveness spurred by massive electoral fraud and violence during last week's national elections may lead to swelling street protests in the next few weeks.

Assessing the situation after the May 10 elections , CPP spokesperson Gregorio "Ka Roger" Rosal said that the Armed Forces of the Philippines as well as reactionary candidates and parties, �especially those in power, dictated the vote in many areas through coercion and vote-buying, and launched schemes to manipulate election results including massive voters' disenfranchisement, vote-padding, vote-shaving as well as outrightly coercive methods.�

Rosal said that the May 10 elections have proven once again that reactionary elections are a farce and cannot truly be democratic exercises.

He added that the same methods of electoral fraud and violence while mainly directed against major opposition candidates are now increasingly being applied against the progressive party-list organizations. In fact, in the recently held polls, said Rosal, it was the progressives who suffered the most in terms of election-related killings and harassment.

Rosal said that the CPP will hold the Arroyo administration and its military and paramilitary forces responsible if the trend continues and is not stopped.

Rosal minced no words in condemning the "systematic terrorism unleashed by government, AFP-PNP and their diehard fascist forces against the progressive party-list organizations to prevent them from garnering a substantial number of seats in parliament in favor of fascist, pseudo-reformist and decorative party-list groups."

Rosal cited the particular case of Mindoro where the AFP and fascist forces made sure �by hook and by crook� that the fascist AFP-sponsored party-list organization ANAD would get more votes than Bayan Muna, no matter how incredible such results would be. Bayan Muna topped the 2001 party-list elections in Mindoro and nationwide. Poll surveys in the 2004 elections likewise projected unequaled victory for Bayan Muna in practically all provinces and cities. #

Reference:
Anne Buenaventura
Media Officer
Cellphone Number: +63910-240-3553

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Swelling street protests vs. election fraud, violence seen--CPP May 16, 2004

Swelling street protests vs. election fraud, violence seen--CPP
May 16, 2004