SC elections roll with lone running party; Other parties lack members for accreditation, says S-COM

For three years in a row, Honorians will once again witness a one color student election following the announcement of the Student Commission on Elections (S-COM) on April 17, which declared Youth-nited movement as the lone accredited party in this year's electoral process.

Although there are attempts from other parties to get accredited, S-COM Chairperson Carlos Alexander Clavel revealed that only the YN met the conditions set based on the Constitution and By-Laws of S-COM.

“Kaya rin siguro palaging YN ‘yung na-a-accredit, dahil siyempre sila lang din naman ‘yung nag-pass, wala namang control ‘yung S-COM regarding sa pagpa-pass ng mga requirements nila,” the S-COM chair appended.

One of the common grounds as to why there are no other parties accredited this year, according to S-COM, is the tight specification regarding the required number of founding members for a party, which minimum stands at 150.

"Kaya gusto rin talaga nilang mag-establish ng another pero di talaga nila magawa kasi nga dahil sa requirements na ano pa lang, 150, hindi na nila ma-meet," Clavel emphasized.

Considering only one party is accredited, S-COM pointed out that independent candidates are expected to vie for different positions in the upcoming elections, which reflects the downside of having only one accredited party.

He added, “Wala silang other choice kundi mag-independent. Kasi hindi rin naman pwedeng dalawa sila in one party. Kaya ‘yun lang sguro ang downside ng isa lang ang na-aacredit na party.”

Meanwhile, the S-COM also clarified the circulating misconceptions concerning YN candidates having the upper hand and automatic votes when it comes to the USC and LSC elections.

“Hindi kami naniniwala na nasa partylist ‘yung magdadala sayo if mananalo ka or hindi, siyempre ‘yung sa student rin sya,” they added.

It should be remembered that it was in the year 2022 when the YN movement party started being unopposed, and to date, Honorians has yet to see any opposition party in the polls, which determines the future leaders of the student body at large.