Major partner quits Ramos-led coalition

Major partner quits Ramos-led coalition

MANILA (AFP): The major partner in the ruling coalition of President Fidel Ramos quit the political alliance yesterday, accusing its former allies of "infidelity."

Philippine Press Secretary Hector Villanueva told reporters Ramos hoped the decision by the Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino (LDP) will not endanger the passage of key economic reform bills in the bicameral Congress.

Party chief Edgardo Angara, declaring the split-up at an LDP congress, said the "uneasy marriage" with the Lakas-National Union of Christian Democrats (Lakas-NUCD) was being ended "on grounds of infidelity to conjugal values."

He did not elaborate, but the party's decision followed allegations that the Ramos party cheated one LDP senatorial candidate out of victory in the May 1995 elections. Lakas-NUCD denied the charge.