Jamaica Election Debate Update

With the huge question of why the Debates will cost just under $20 million to run, many Jamaicans are occupying their minds with even bigger questions.  One such question is when will the debates happen and how will it impact the two parties going into the General Elections on December 29th. 

How many debates? when does it start?  Who will face off?  What is the format?  

Well, we have the answers to most if not all those questions and barring any last minute changes we should have a very exciting showdown in a matter of days.  

We learned that the "Three" parties have agreed to have THREE (3) debates and the match-ups so far promise to give us one of the best political debates in our country's history. And you wondered why I said "Three" parties.  The Jamaica Debates Commission (JDC) which is in charge of organizing and managing the debates, is the third party in the long negotiations on these questions.  The JDC are leading the negotiations between the PNP and JLP.

Gary Allen, Chairman of the Jamaica Debates Commission (JDC) maintains that they will spare no effort to ensure the debates go on.  Of course the agreement between the parties were up in the air up to last week.  Some of the key issues to be agreed were the number of debates, the format and subject areas.  

The JDC a few weeks ago intimated their idea of the debate types and formats, with their recommendation of the following debates:

1) Leadership

2)Finance

3)Social Issues

4)Youth Issues

In addition, the JDC has proposed formats for town hall, studio as well as one and one with inputs from public through direct questioning, panel discussions, live audience and communication by social media channels.  The Chairman also hinted that consultations were made with News editors and producers, journalists and potential moderators.

So here we have it, the answers to these intriguing questions. It was agreed that a team debate on socio-economic issues will be run for 90-minutes featuring three candidates from each party. It will be from a youth perspective and the candidates that have been selected from the PNP are Lisa Hanna, Raymond Pryce and Dayton Campbell.  They will face off with the JLP's Collin Virgo, Warren Newby and Dr Saphire Longmore. 

 

  

For the second debate in the series the Green corner will see minister of finance Audley Shaw trading words with the opposition spokesman on finance Dr. Peter Phillips. This will be a 60-minute feature focusing on the country's economy and development.

The grand finale will see the much anticipated leadership debate which I imagine will cover a variety of topics not the least governance. Prime Minister Andrew Holness sparring with the leader of the opposition Portia Simpson-Miller for 60-minutes.

While we do not have the precise dates we are confident that we will have the first of the series within a weeks time.  Stay tuned for more updates as we keep you informed