Palace brushes off Cayetano’s ‘snap elections’ motion

Malacañang Palace has brushed off a proposal made by Senate Minority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano that the country undergo a snap election after officials tender their resignation in order to rehaul those who are elected by the public.

This came amid the “declining” trust of the people in the government.

In a statement, Palace Press Officer Undersecretary Claire Castro said the suggestion was mearly a “wishful thinking” on the part of the Senator. 

“It is just his wishful thinking. We do not have time to talk about one's personal desires,” she said in a message to Palace reporters.

She added that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is busy working for the public and has no time for politicking.

“The President is busy working for the people and helping those affected by the earthquake and typhoon. He has no time for this kind of politics. Let us all focus on the needs of the people and not just on personal interests,” Castro noted.

Cayetano, earlier, was rumored to succeed Vicente “TIto” Sotto III as Senate President as reports of Senators are leaving the majority bloc, however, the veteran lawmaker dismissed these claims as he is “very confident” that the majority of the Senators still supports him. 

Lawmakers and legal experts have weighed in on the possibility of conducting snap elections, explaining that it cannot be done as it is not stated in the Constitution.

“We have no Constitutional nor legal framework for snap elections,” Sotto said.

Political analyst and former presidential political adviser Ronald Llamas said that Cayetano must serve as an example and be the first to resign from position.

He also explained that the move is unconstitutional.

The Commission on Elections (Comelec), for its part, rejected this call as no law permits a national snap elections outside normal electoral calendar.

"We cannot conduct a special or snap election without a law," Chairperson George Garcia said in a radio interview.