Arrangements for the three national debates ahead of the September 3 General Election have been finalised, the entity staging the events reported yesterday.

The Jamaica Debates Commission (JDC) told journalists in an online press conference that it is on track to host the debates scheduled for August 25, 27, and 29.

Each debate will run for 90 minutes and will see selected participants from the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) and People’s National Party (PNP) discuss social, economic and leadership matters.

The teams debating social issues on August 25 will be (from the JLP) Dr Christopher Tufton from St Catherine West Central; Kamina Johnson Smith, minister of foreign affairs and foreign trade; and Floyd Green, representative for St Elizabeth South Western; and (from the PNP) Peter Bunting, Manchester Central; Dayton Campbell, St Ann North Western; and Krystal Tomlinson, St Andrew West Rural.

The second debate on August 27 will see Minister of Finance and Public Service Dr Nigel Clarke facing Mark Golding, the Opposition spokesman on finance.

On Saturday, August 29, Prime Minister Andrew Holness and Opposition Leader Dr Peter Phillips will engage in of matters of leadership.

Chairman of the JDC Noel daCosta announced that in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, the national debates will not be able to accommodate a live studio audience. This, however, has opened up room for wider public engagement online.

“These debates are going to be different. We are having it during a pandemic, and campaigning has changed and should be more media-focused,” said daCosta.

This has led to a major change in the format of the national debates whereby the number of journalists asking questions of the debaters has been reduced from the usual three to two, with the rest of the questions coming from the public.

This is an unprecedented move by the JDC, according to Vice-Chairman Brian Schmidt.

“The debates will allow for live public engagement. The public will ask one-third of the questions, which is a landmark for any debating organisation worldwide,” said Schmidt.

Special provisions have also been made for the physical distancing of debaters, moderators and journalists during live studio taping.

“We have also established a frequent sanitisation protocol,” said daCosta.

He added that the cost of staging of the national debates this election cycle amounted to approximately $30 million, with the support of corporate and other sponsors namely the United States Agency for International Development, PROVEN Investments, ScotiaBank, National Commercial Bank, The University of the West Indies, Digicel, Flow, National Group of Companies, and Victoria Mutual Building Society.

Each debate is scheduled to begin at 9:00 pm local time and will be aired on television, radio and social media platforms.

Last Monday, daCosta told the Jamaica Observer Monday Exchange that since the commission started its own polling, the statistics for the 2007 and 2011 general elections as well as the 2016 parish council election have consistently showed that 60-67 per cent of those surveyed said the debates helped them to decide how to vote.

“We were expecting when we did that poll first, maybe about four or five per cent. We were startled when we got 20 something per cent and then for the next cycle the numbers were repeated so we feel that it [the debates] does make a significant difference,” daCosta said.

According to the commission, 78 per cent of respondents said the debates addressed their issues.

Schmidt, who was also at the Observer Monday Exchange, pointed out, too, that 78 per cent of respondents felt debates should be mandatory for elections.

“So if you’re looking at nearly 80 per cent of the country saying debates are mandatory, it is telling you that debates have now become an entrenched part of the political culture,” he said.

Both had also used the occasion to call for a fixed election date, arguing that it would give the commission enough time to plan.

“The debates commission is always at a disadvantage, because when the prime minister calls the election there are some 24 or 26 days before an election, and within that period we have to stage debates. To put on three debates, they take up a week, so the time frame that we have to work with… it’s always rushed. It’s always last-minute. If we had a fixed election date that would be sorted,” he daCosta said.