THERE will be no political parties in this year’s Central Student Council Executive Board elections, the UST Central Commission on Elections (Comelec) has announced.
Central Comelec Chairwoman Lauren Eunice Navales said this meant that all candidates in this year’s polls would be “independent.”
“Since no central political party was accredited to participate in this year’s ‘Halalan’ season, the University should only expect independent candidates running for the Central Student Council,” she told the Varsitarian.
In separate resolutions, the Comelec denied petitions for reaccrediation and registration respectively, of Lakas Tomasino Coalition (LTC) and Student’s Alliance for the Advancement of Democratic Rights in UST (Stand-UST), because both parties failed to meet the requirements of the UST Students’ Election Code of 2011 (USEC).
Navales said both parties were given plenty of chances to meet the requirements, and deadline extensions were given since November last year.
“After several considerations given, the Central Comelec en banc has ultimately decided not to extend nor to set another date for political party registration and accreditation for this academic year. We will exhaust our resources in preparation for the upcoming Halalan season instead,” she said.
The USEC states that central political parties must have a minimum 50 members and at least two representatives in at least 15 faculties, colleges, schools, and/or institutes.
LTC was denied reaccreditation after failing to meet the required 50 members.
STAND-UST completed the required 50 members but failed to recruit at least two representatives in at least 15 colleges, faculties, schools and institutes.
Lakas ng Diwang Tomasino did not submit a petition for reaccreditation for this academic year.
