Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Filipinos frown on term limits repeal

The dateline for this one is Manila, but it could be Caracas or even New York City. It is a universal and eternal fact of life that citizens love terms limits and incumbent politicians hate them.

The latest datum is a new poll from the Philippines, where a move is afoot to lengthen or repeal term limits for the president, vice president and the legislature as part of a package of constitutional changes. Outside the capitol building, only 15 percent of the population approve of weakening term limits, according to a new Social Weather Stations poll. A full 64 percent oppose it.

Currently, the constitution mandates term limits at nearly all levels. For a survey of international term limits, see LINKS in the left-hand column on this blog.