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Who's afraid of GMA's renewed Chacha drive?

For once, we are tempted to wander into “alien territory” (we used to tackle purely local concerns) because of its timeliness. Who can argue of the timeliness of President GMA's renewed Chacha drive after she appeared to have backed off. She made a Chacha turnaround when various religious groups threatened to hold massive protest actions? Anyway, what the President has since said was that there's a need for Charter change on the basis of three realities.

The three scenarios the President cited are that one, that the people accept the need for Charter change to overhaul the system; two that there is a need for a unified consensus on the means and timetable; and three, that this is a platform commitment of the administration that will be pursued with urgency and fervor. So who's afraid of GMA's sudden change of mind on Chacha? Not the Filipino people but GMA herself. And the thing she dreads the most is the prospect of having elections next May. And what do you think is the best argument against elections? No other but Charter change. With Charter change, with any mode she favors, a mid term elections is out of the question because she and her allies will do everything to stop it (elections) by all means.

GMA is afraid to hold an elections next year because if indeed it will be a referendum of her conduct in office, do you think that the people are still that gullible to rally behind her? That is still a 64$ question and the President is in no mood to gamble with a situation whose outcome she is not sure of. Another thing that bothers the President no end is the possibility that her term office will end in 2010. With Charter change, her term of office will mean eternity. Therefore, it means, her stay in power, will last for as long as she leaves. It doesn't need a legal luminary why the President dreads the day that her stay in office will end one day. She may not intend to live forever, but with Charter change, the President and her allies in Congress will do everything that term limits will not be found in their political vocabulary.

Indeed, why bother?

The thing is, think of the President's biggest blunder she committed while in power: incarcerating Erap. With Erap in prison, do you think, she was not creating a very dangerous precedent for her own future when she's out of power?