KINGSTON, Jamaica — The Jamaica Debates Commission (JDC) has confirmed that there will be three 90-minute debates between representatives of the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) and the People’s National Party (PNP), beginning Tuesday, August 25 with a team debate on social issues in the country.

The second debate on finance issues will be staged on Thursday, August 27 and the third debate between the party leaders will be staged on Saturday, August 29.

JDC said all three debates will be aired on radio, television and online, commencing 9:00 pm on each of the days.

The PNP’s debaters, based on a coin toss today, will deliver the first of the opening statements in all three debates and the JLP’s representatives will deliver the final of the closing statements in all three debates.

The decisions were made by the parties’ representatives and the JDC based on the rules governing the coin toss.

JDC also advised that this year, due to the COVID-19 restrictions, there will not be a studio audience for the debates though each side will have a team of three advisors.

The commission said it will announce the list of debaters, hosts and questioners closer to the debates. It also determined that there will be two journalists as questioners for each debate and in each round of questions, there will be a third question taken from social media queries from the public on the night.

This is the seventh round of debates being staged by the JDC, which has been in operation and staging debates for nearly 20 years.

The commission is a legal partnership between the Jamaica Chamber of Commerce (JCC) and the Media Association Jamaica Limited (MAJ).