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Violence Mars Crucial Philippine Elections
by Kazi Mahmood
JAKARTA, May 13 (IslamOnline) - The Philippines mid-term senate election vote for Monday 14th has been marred by extreme violence in which 66 people have been killing.
These elections are crucial for new Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, whose political survival may depend on it.
While both Arroyo's administration and the opposition have predicted victory, a report released Saturday by the Inquirer newspaper indicated that the Arroyo-led group would win the senatorial battle with an 8-5 margin.
Thirteen seats are at stake, with several key pro-Joseph Estrada figures seeking re-election. The People Power coalition (PPC), backed by Arroyo, may have made a greater impression upon the people, as did a failed "coup attempt" by the Estrada camp two weeks ago might, both providing support for Arroyo's camp.
Arroyo stressed that the PPC is intact and strong. She said reports that the Lakas-NUCD party of former president Fidel V. Ramos would be booted out of the administration coalition for cutting deals with opposition allies, were false.
Sources in Manila said Arroyo's desire for a 13-0 sweep in the Senate race is quite possible. She has called on Filipinos to "vote wisely," and give her administration much needed support.
A defeat in the elections would pressure Arroyo's regime to compromise with the opposition camp, the Puwersa, supported by Estrada and the family former president Ferdinand Marcos.
In the event Puwersa were to win the elections, the administration in Manila would be forced to review current charges leveled against former president Estrada.
Estrada is currently in jail on charges of plundering the economy, charges whose penalty includes the death penalty.
Estrada has said his camp should win the race, as one Puwersa official said they were heading for a 13-0 victory.
Muslim separatist groups in the country are hoping for a clear and neat Arroyo victory. They believe an Arroyo camp defeat would jeopardize peace talks in the Philippines.
A possible return of Estrada to power would be a dreadful experience to the Muslims in Mindanao, sources said, adding that the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) would then be forced to take up arms once again.
Years of war has torn the southern Philippines apart and forced its population, a high percentage of which are Muslims, to live in almost absolute poverty.
Muslims in the southern Philippine province of Mindanao are expected to give support to Arroyo, while a large section of lower income Christians across the country are expected to vote for Estrada.
The Puwersa claims that Manila is a traditional bastion for the opposition, with five million voters, and that these votes could push at least eight of its senatorial candidates into the Magic 13 in Monday's election.
Puwersa said that its senatorial bids are expected to rack up votes in the slums and working-class districts across Manila, where anti-administration sentiments have allegedly been further stoked by the violent dispersal of EDSA III protesters outside Malacañang.
He said that the harsh treatment meted out to Estrada and the EDSA III protesters, who had marched to Malacañang, has triggered a backlash "in favor of the opposition."
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