A day after snubbing the official launch of the merged Lakas-Kampi unified party, former Philippine president Fidel Ramos clarified Friday he is not against the marriage of two of the largest political parties in the country.

Instead, the former president slammed the undue haste done by some Lakas-Kampi leaders to merge the two parties without proper consulting former party leaders.

Ramos, one of the founding members of Lakas Christian Muslim Democrats, said Kampi members should have conducted more meetings and consultations with the Lakas National Executive Directorate to discuss the merger.

"There was undue haste and lack of consultation in regard to calling of the grand meeting yesterday, which should have been preceded by time given to stakeholders of both parties. At least to be able to study and make comments, officially or otherwise on merger agreement, which is in the form of the Constitution and by-laws of merged party," Ramos told reporters.

He said the legal status of the Lakas-Kampi party is still in question since Lakas CMD and Kampi are both registered with the Commission on Elections and have not been dissolved.

Ramos said the merger has yet to address Lakas' status as a member of several international organizations.  He said party leaders have also failed to reveal plans for Lakas representative, former Speaker Jose de Venecia.

Ramos refused to blame Gabriel Claudio, President Arroyo's political adviser and chairman of the national unification committee of the two partes, for the various oversights. He said it is Claudio's superiors who should explain why the merger was pushed through hastily.

Despite the merger's perceived flaws, the former president said he is unwilling to leave the party he co-founded in 1992. He said that until the flaws are worked out, the two parties will only be "living together, and not officially married."

Claudio, meanwhile, said he will meet Ramos over the weekend to discuss the various developments about the Lakas-Kampi merger.

"Handa naman akong magpa-sermon sa kanya. (I'm ready to receive a lecture from him.) But I'm confident that the reservvations he has about the merger are not fatal. We look forward to his being a fountainhead of inspiration and guidance as chairman emeritus, this time not only of Lakas but of the bigger family that it has become through the merger with Kampi," he said in a statement.

JDV likens Lakas-Kampi to KBL

Former House Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. predicted Friday that the "formidable" party Lakas-Kampi-CMD will collapse after the 2010 elections.

"Itong bagong partido na ito that President Ramos and I oppose, parang yan KBL (Kilusang Bagong Lipunan) ni [former president Ferdinand] Marcos ito. Naging monster and it collapsed after a few months, immediately after the [1986] elections (This new party that President Ramos and I oppose is like Marcos's KBL. It became a monster and it collapsed after a few months, immediately after the elections)," De Venecia told ABS-CBN's morning show, "Umagang Kay Ganda."

De Venecia said signs of the new party's collapse were very visible during the formal signing of its merger on Thursday at the Manila Hotel.

"Maraming leaders ng CMD (Christian Muslim Democrats) -- governors, congressmen, mayors -- ang hindi invited at hindi nag-attend (Several CMD leaders --- governors, congressmen, mayors -- were not invited and did not attend)," the former speaker said, referring to local officials who are in conflict with Kampi members in local areas.

De Venecia and former President Ramos, who both created Lakas-CMD party, did not attend the signing of the official merger of the three parties.

The former speaker said Ramos told him that they would only be used as "rubber stamps" if they attend the assembly.

Presidential political adviser Gabriel Claudio, one of the officials of Lakas-CMD, said Ramos failed to attend assembly because he had just arrived from the United States and had to pass by the hospital on Thursday.

Claudio also clarified that Quezon City Mayor Sonny Belmonte, another Lakas official, was in China, but he sent a representative -- Vice-Mayor Herbert Bautista -- to the assembly.

MMDA Chairman Bayani Fernando, a presidential aspirant and one of the loyal members of Lakas, snubbed the assembly. He was protesting the new party's possible endorsement of non-party members for the presidential bid, referring to Vice President Noli de Castro and Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro.

He said people behind the Lakas-Kampi merger will work hard to keep the new party united. He said they are continuously working on the conflict between warring Kampi and Lakas members at the local level.

In her speech during the official merger, President Arroyo said the new party is the administration's "finest weapon and perhaps our best guarantee for success in the 2010 elections."

“Doubting Thomases—and there were many—said that the merger between the two biggest political parties in the country would not come to pass. The road to this merger has neither been short nor easy. The road ahead is likely strewn with more challenges and trials but we have made a great leap of faith and statesmanship today,” she said.