After opting out of the debates organized by the Jamaica Debated Commission (JDC), the governing People’s National Party (PNP) has accepted an invitation from the RJR Communications Group to participate in a 90-minute forum ahead of the February 25 general election.
During the news forum representatives of the PNP and the main opposition Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) will be questioned separately by a team of journalists on their plans, proposals and campaign issues.
Both parties were invited to participate after efforts by the JDC to stage the usual debates between the parties failed.
In its invitation to the parties, RJR noted that its request was secondary to any participation in JDC debates.
Meanwhile the JDC has expressed disappointment with the decision of the PNP not to participate the debates.
“The JDC laments that since 2002 successive governing and opposition parties have found it possible to set aside or resolve their issues so that they could participate in the debates in the national interest,” the commission said in a statement.
It also noted that in professional surveys conducted independently after the last two debates, the majority of members of the public noted that the Commission’s political debates assisted them in arriving at their decisions on how they eventually voted.
The Commission says it truly regrets the outcome, but did everything possible to continue the tradition of civil political debates.
The JDC says it will re-double its efforts to give itself additional flexibility and options for the staging of debates in the future.
