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CHANGE POLITICS MOVEMENT (CPM):CRITERIA FOR SELECTION OF 2010 NATIONAL CANDIDATES
Version 15 May 2009
AVOIDING PITFALLS
In drawing up the criteria for selecting a presidential candidate, we need to avoid the following pitfalls:
•
“All-or-nothing” approach in viewing candidates’ commitment/responses to our desired principles and practices, while recognizing the essential importance of character andcredibility.
•
Inordinate sectoral/localized bias to the neglect of broader, cross-cutting, national agenda
•
Formulation of principles/practices in broad “motherhood” terms that fail to provide concrete basis by which to assess prospective candidates’ capacities to assume the country’s highest public position
FRAMEWORK IN FORMULATING/ORGANIZING CRITERIA FOR SELECTINGCPM’S 2010 NATIONAL
 
CANDIDATES
 The basis for to assessing and eventually selecting CPM’s presidential candidate shall consist of three categories:
1.Integrity and Track Record 
By their past actions and choices, we shall know them. Presidential aspirants don’t come toour attention in a vacuum or with a clean slate. Whether in public or private roles, they havemade choices, championed causes (or not), selected the company they move in, steered their career (and family) in certain directions. We cannot and should not rely just on promises for future action. By their past, they have given us a strong indication of how they will run thecountry and where they will take it. Thus, our first category of criteria is
 Integrity and Track  Record 
.
2.Immediate, Strategic Agenda to Stop the Slide and Restore the Philippines in the Track of Democratic Reform and Good Governance
The next President has the difficult task of leading the country out of what is arguably itsdarkest period in recent history. The next President needs to have a firm sense of how s/hewill pull the country out of its current morass and restore it in the direction of DemocraticReform and Good Governance in a period of extreme challenges confronting the entire globe.Without abandoning our specific sectoral agenda, we need to be able to push for the nextPresident to boldly undertake a strategic national agenda which will address
immediate,lynchpin issues and problems
necessary to reverse the grievous impact of the past years of 
 
2mis-governance and abuse and, thus, allow the space and momentum to build towardssustainable reform and development outcomes. Thus, our second criteria-category is thecandidates’ proposed
 Immediate, Strategic Agenda
for the presidency.
3.Capacity to Win Power for Reform
For a candidate’s good track record to be put behind and realize his/her bold reform agenda,however, the candidate will have to win the elections. This is the necessary bridge betweenthe candidate’s track record and his/her immediate and strategic agenda.
 
S/he will have to beable to seriously engage in tightly contested national elections
 
for the highest position
s
in theland scheduled one year from now. Thus, our third category is the Capacity to Engage in National Electoral Contest – the
Capacity to Win Power for Reform
.
CHECK-LIST ON CRITERIA FOR NATIONAL CANDIDATES (NC)
1.
Integrity and Track Record
1.1
Character and Credibility
•
Has the NC held positions requiring public trust and credibility?
•
Has the NC been implicated in corruption or grave public scandal? What about the NC’s family members or close associates?
•
What is the reputation of the people who are most closely associated with the NC?
•
Has the NC been transparent in his/her transactions, whether in public office or in a private capacity?
•
Has the NC ever been caught lying, cheating, stealing or applying double-standards in public or private transactions?
•
Can we trust the NC to do what s/he says and to give us the real picture on the problems facing the country?
•
What is the NC’s track record in human rights, including respect for women andchildren within his/her immediate circle of association? What is his/her track recordin dealing with minority groups and peoples?
•
Has the NC demonstrated a love of country and value for the common good above theinterests of one’s family or close associates?1.2
Competence
•
What positions has the NC held up to now? Have these positions provided sufficientexperience and preparation to assume national office; particularly, for presidential andvice-presidential candidates, has their experience prepared them to run an entirecountry?
•
Has
 
the
N
C
 
had dealings of any sort with the bureaucracy? With what result?
•
How about the NC’s dealings with public agencies? The private sector? The NGOs?The basic sectors or people’s organizations? Did s/he promote meaningful
 
3 participation of these sectors in his/her previous positions in government or in the private sector?
•
What has been the NC’s experience in bringing about multi-sectoral and cross-cultural discourse and consensus?
•
Has the NC had any experience in foreign policy? Has s/he had experience in dealingwith the security sector?
•
What is the NC’s background in economics and/or finance?
•
For those running for legislative offices, what is their background in dealing withnational policy issues and legislation? Have they shown the discipline andcompetence necessary to push a legislative agenda?1.3
 Public Leadership and Politics
•
If the NC has previously been engaged in politics, what has been the NC’s partyrecord? Has s/he been a good party member, respecting and strengthening change politics practice within the party?
•
Has the NC’s family or close associates ever taken advantage of the NC’s position of  power or authority, whether in public service, the private sector, or civil society?
•
Has the NC faced important crisis situations? How did the NC fare? Was s/he able totake the lead and inspire others to face and overcome the crisis?
•
Does the NC have a constituency base among the basic sectors, including minorityand marginalized groups? Is his/her relationship with the constituency empoweringor patronage-based?
•
Has the NC been able to inspire and mobilize citizens to correct a particular injusticein his/her area of responsibility? 1.4
 Position Taken on Issues
•
What position, if any, did the NC take on the following issues, especially within thelast 3-5 years?
Poverty Reduction and Human Development (especially Education and Health)
Political Reform (especially Electoral Reform and Decentralization/LocalAutonomy)
Good Governance (especially Anti-Corruption, Anti-Presidential Abuse of Power)
Fiscal Reform
Asset Reform (specifically, Agrarian Reform, Urban Land Reform, Fisheries andAquatic Reform, and Ancestral Domain Rights)
Environment and Sustainable Agriculture (especially Mining, Climate Change,and Sustainable Farming Practices)
Human Rights (specifically, the issue of Extra-Judicial Killings and Martial LawAbuses by the military and the police)
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