LP confident Belmonte will win speakership v. GMA
Liberal Party (LP) General Campaign Manager Florencio “Butch” Abad said today the current dominant minority party is confident incoming 4th District Representative and current Quezon City Mayor Feliciano “Sonny” Belmonte Jr. will become the next Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Abad predicted Belmonte will defeat incoming Pampanga Second District Rep. and outgoing President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo when the LP and the Lakas-Kampi meet head-on for the House leadership.
Abad said that there are no roadblocks that could hinder the campaign of Belmonte for Speaker of the House of Representatives.
“By our last assessment, we do not see any major problem preventing the Liberal Party from securing the minimum number of votes to elect a speaker,” Abad said.
Although he admitted that the LP only has 45 congressmen, several members of other political parties have expressed interest to join the LP which could help boost the party’s bid for speakership.
He added that members of the Lakas-Kampi-CMD from the House of Representatives are also set to negotiate with the LP.
Abad noted that when former President Joseph Estrada won in the 1998 presidential elections, he only had one ally—Quezon City Rep. Rey Calalay—but after a few weeks, Estrada had gained control of the majority of the House.
This was also the case when former President Fidel Ramos ran, only five congressmen were allied with his administration, but soon he got control of 80% of the House.
