Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats

The Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats, also more popularly known as simply Lakas or Lakas-CMD is the current ruling political party in the Philippines. It is known for being conservative, and its ideology is very similar to that of the Republican Party of the United States and the Canadian Conservative Party.

There are no results available of the last elections for the House of Representatives, but according to the website of the House, the party holds 79 out of 235 seats. The party was at the 2004 elections a member of the Koalisyon ng Katapatan at Karanasan sa Kinabukasan (K-4, Coalition of Truth and Experience for Tomorrow), the coalition that supported president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, who won the 2004 presidential elections. After the elections, some legislators joined the Kabalikat ng Mamamayang Pilipino, also a K-4 partner.

1 History
2 Recent Events
3 Notable Members
4 See also

[edit] History

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Lakas was formed in December 1991 for the 1992 Presidential elections as retired General and Defense Secretary Fidel V. Ramos and Cebu Governor Emilio Mario R. Osmena were running for President and Vice-President respectively.

The party was formed out of two parties: Ramos's Partido Lakas ng Tao (People Power Party) and the National Union of Christian Democrats (NUCD) of Raul Manglapus. As they coalesced, the party became known as Lakas ng Tao-National Union of Christian Democrats, with Lakas ng Tao usually just shortened to "Lakas" and abbreviated as Lakas-NUCD.

In 1994, it formed a coalition government with the Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino (Struggle of Democratic Filipinos) for the 1995 legislative elections. This coalition, dubbed the "Lakas-Laban Coalition", won a majority in both Houses of Congress. In the 1997 Lakas National Convention, the party nominated House Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. of Pangasinan after a close nominal fight with then Defense Secretary Renato de Villa as its nominee to the presidency against oppositionist Vice President Joseph Estrada in the 1998 elections. By this time, it was joined by the United Muslim Democrats of the Philippines (UMDP) to form Lakas ng EDSA - National Union of Christian Democrats- United Muslim Democrats of the Philippines (Lakas-NUCD-UMDP).

Secretary de Villa eventually bolted the party and formed Partido ng Demokratikong Reporma-Lapiang Manggagawa (Democratic Reform Party) for the 1998 presidential elections. Lakas also nominated then-Senator Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo of Pampanga as its candidate as Vice-President. De Venecia lost to Vice-President Estrada by a wide majority, while Arroyo took the vice presidency in the same manner.

In the 2001 elections, the name changed again to the current Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats, or Lakas-CMD. However, the meaning of Lakas in the party name is usually now referred to as "Lakas ng EDSA" than the original Lakas ng Tao. This is also the name that it used when it ran in 2004 elections under the K-4 coalition. Vice-President Arroyo was the Lakas candidate for president, eventually winning over her opponents.

[edit] Recent Events

Currently, Lakas is torn by factional rivalry between supporters of President Arroyo and supporters of former President Fidel V. Ramos. Issues include transitory provisions in a proposed Constitution to scrap mid-term elections (or "no-el") set for 2007 and calls for her to step down in time for the elections, which is related to the "no-el" controversy.

The party held its Annual Party Directorate Meeting on January 14, 2006 to discuss these matters.