The 2001 Party-List Elections: Winners, Losers and Political/Legal Contradictions Ronaldo M. Llamas September 2001 About Us Core Themes Activities Publications Online Materials Controversies still continue to hound the landscape, conduct and results of the party-list race of May 14.By no means is the party-list race over. It is more than three months now since the party-list elections. Yet only 3 parties, out of the 10 who made the 2% mark, have been deemed qualified and proclaimed to take seats in the House Of Representatives(HOR). These are Bayan Muna(3 seats), Akbayan(1 seat) and BUTIL(1 seat). There is till no clear assurance at the moment if other party-list contenders would add up to the list. Legal flak animates the party-list discourse. FES Dialogue on Globalization FES International Policy Analysis Unit FES Journal ­International Politics and Society The year 2001 was heralded by a series of convulsions on the state arena. The party­list race, together with the senatorial elections, appeared as the third arena of confrontation this year among political forces, mainly among the elite. The first arena was the EDSA2 that saw the impeachment and eventual ouster of Pres. Joseph Estrada (LAMMP-PMP). Vice-President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo(Lakas-NUCD) succeeded the ousted Pres. Estrada. The second was the so-called EDSA3 wherein pro-Estrada forces marched and stormed Malacanang in a failed insurrectionary bid against Pres. Macapagal-Arroyo.[1] The unsettling political landscape has a definite synergetic impact on the party list race. The Party-List Arena in General Established in 1995, the Philippine"Party-List Law"(R.A. 7941) was heralded as a breakthrough in Philippine governance. The party-list system was entrenched after the EDSA 1986 Uprising through the 1986 Constitution in Section 5 of Article VI. Progressive and"marginalized” organizations that had little chances in winning district congressional seats found a window of opportunity to participate in national legislation. The Party List Law reserves 20% or 52 HOR seats for national, regional, and sectoral parties or organizations. Each participating organization qualifies to get one seat in the HOR if it manages to get 2% of the total party-list votes cast. Additional seats are allotted"in proportion to their total number of votes".[2] A maximum of 3 seats is permitted. A voter is entitled to elect only one organization in the party-list system. This system provides a narrow corridor for progressive parties to participate in national elite governance. As of July 4, 2001, only 10 out of the 162 party-list contenders hurdled the 2.0% mark. The Commission on Elections(COMELEC) reports as follows:[3] Rank CONTENDER ACRONYM GRAND TOTAL PERCENTAGE OF TOTAL VOTES GARNERED 1 Bayan Muna BAYAN 1,697,578 11.3627 2 Mamamayan