KONTAN.CO.ID - MANILA. Voting was underway in the Philippines on Monday in mid-term elections seen as a referendum on the rule of maverick President Rodrigo Duterte, who looks set to strengthen his grip on power and further marginalize a dwindling opposition. Nearly 62 million of the country’s 107 million population are registered to vote in a massive nationwide ballot for 18,000 posts, among them more than 200 mayors and governors and 245 seats in a lower house in which Duterte is all but certain to retain his huge majority. The most important race is for the 12 available slots in the 24-seat Senate, a less-partisan chamber until now seen as a crucial check on power and a bulwark against the Duterte administration’s political dominance.
Duterte expected to strengthen clout after Philippine mid-term referendum
KONTAN.CO.ID - MANILA. Voting was underway in the Philippines on Monday in mid-term elections seen as a referendum on the rule of maverick President Rodrigo Duterte, who looks set to strengthen his grip on power and further marginalize a dwindling opposition. Nearly 62 million of the country’s 107 million population are registered to vote in a massive nationwide ballot for 18,000 posts, among them more than 200 mayors and governors and 245 seats in a lower house in which Duterte is all but certain to retain his huge majority. The most important race is for the 12 available slots in the 24-seat Senate, a less-partisan chamber until now seen as a crucial check on power and a bulwark against the Duterte administration’s political dominance.