FORMER Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. on Monday said President Arroyo ordered the merger of the ruling Lakas -Christian Muslim Democrats and the Kabalikat ng Malayang Pilipino (Kampi) as part of efforts to extend her term beyond 2010.

"All (she) wants is to accumulate more power… maybe GMA wants to extend her term beyond 2010," he told reporters after being unseated as Lakas president in a party’s national directorate meeting Monday.

He did not elaborate on what Arroyo would have to do to stay beyond 2010.

But the administration has not given up its Charter change campaign, which is seen by the opposition and other sectors as a means of Arroyo staying in power.

De Venecia, who snubbed the meeting, is now Lakas-CMD president emeritus, a post created just for him.

Arroyo during the meeting endorsed the merger which she said would turn the ruling party into a "colossus" and ensure the victory of its candidate in the 2010 presidential elections.

De Venecia has called the merger a "kiss of death" for Lakas and said about "70 percent" of Lakas members would surely oppose the merger, knowing Kampi is a "party of the Arroyos" and of "power and money."