THE chancellor of Germany, Gerhard Schröeder, was persuaded by the Socialist Democrats at a party conference last week to let go of the chancellorship. Schröeder accepted the party’s decision without a frown.
More than three weeks after the parliamentary elections on September 18 the Christian Democrats happily announced that party leader Angela Merkel, 51, could soon become Germany’s first woman chancellor.
Party strength in Germany
Merkel’s party has a margin of only four seats against the Social Democrats, but shortly after the parliamentary elections, the voting bloc of the party expressed full confidence in Merkel with a vote of more than 96 percent.
Voters in Germany have a simple choice by casting the votes for a political party, NOT the candidates as in RP.
UK’s ‘Iron Lady’
Last Thursday Queen Elizabeth II attended a posh evening party marking the 80th birthday of Margaret Thatcher, Britain’s first female prime minister. The guest list included Tony Blair and John Major who succeeded Thatcher as prime minister in 1990.
She remains an icon in British politics after challenging the Conservative Party leadership in 1979 and proceeded to win the parliamentary elections by a landslide.
Elder statesmen’s choice
In Japan, candidates for prime minister are selected by senior statesmen in the dominant parties, who still retain the last say on party leadership leading to the highest political office.
Party strongmen
But Singapore’s Labour Party is identified with its organizers and the city state’s founder, Lee Kuan Yew. No other leader had ever summoned the guts or nerve to challenge or defy Lee’s power as party leader and prime minister for more than 25 years. He remains as senior minister to this day. The incumbent, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, is his son and a former air force general.
Dr. Mohamad Mahathir ruled Malaysia from 1981 to 2003 with his National Front coalition as the only dominant party. When Malaysia suffered from the Asian currency crisis in 1997, Mahathir ignored the economic prescriptions of the IMF and World Bank by fixing exchange rates and capital controls. The formula worked for Malaysia.
In the case of Singapore and Malaysia, strongman rule prevailed over the traditional party authority prevailing in Europe and Japan.
Complex system
The US has a different type of party system. The Republican and Democratic parties have no rules that define who should run as candidates for president, vice president, state governor, US senator, etc.
Both the primary and caucus system from state to state is governed by simple rules on popularity. This is definitely an expensive process for courting votes. The national candidates have two political barriers to overcome: Primaries in many small and big states and the national convention.
Ad hoc parties
RP politics may not find its typical counterpart in countries with parliamentary or presidential government. Political parties or factions are organized by affluent candidates or persons who can finance political campaigns.
Factions or parties may be organized for national, regional, or provincial campaigns and may automatically cease to exist after an election. They can be compared to ad hoc committees that are formed for a special case.
Two exceptions in RP
RP parties have a brief life span. There are two parties today that can trace their origin to the various periods in the life of our nation. The Partido Nacionalista is the oldest and was founded by politicians of all shades before the election of representatives to the First Assembly of 1907. The party was supported by Quezon and Osmeña, by Laurel in the late ‘40s, and by Amang Rodriguez from Quezon’s time up to his death in 1964. The NP was abolished by martial law between 1972 and 1986 and was revived by Doy Laurel after 1986.
In early January, 1946, Senate President Roxas, 54, set his eyes on the presidency by splitting the old party of his benefactor President Osmeña, 68. He organized the Liberal Wing of the NP and sliced a bigger bloc of the party’s followers in Luzon, the Visayas, and Mindanao.
Loyal partisans in Europe and North America tend to view disloyalty to party as the moral equivalent of treason. (Comments are welcome at rvp@fastmail.ph.inter.net)
