IEA presidential debate slated for September

The Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) has scheduled the last week of September for the first of two presidential debates ahead of the 2016 presidential elections.

The second is scheduled to be held in the third week of October, a couple of weeks before the elections.

These were made known by the Institute on Tuesday, May 10, when it launched its timetable for the encounters.

Though the two presidential debates will involve political parties with members of parliament, a separate one is being considered for the two frontrunners – John Dramani Mahama of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and Nana Akufo-Addo of the New Patriotic Party (NPP).

“From all indications, Ghanaians are really looking forward to it apart from having a platform for all the four,” said IEA’s Executive Director Jean Mensah.

Evening encounters will also be held across the nation for all presidential aspirants, IEA announced.

A Vice Presidential Debate has also been scheduled to be held in the first week of October.

The debates will be on the policy agenda and programmes of the different candidates together with a detailed analysis of their credibility, competence and capacity to solve national problems.