The debate and the candidate who was not there
Sunday night in El Salvador there was a national televised debate among the candidates for president in El Salvador, sponsored by the Salvadoran association of broadcasters. All the candidates were there except for the candidate who leads by a wide margin in all the public opinion polls. Despite having earlier agreed to participate in the debate, Nayib Bukele instead went to his preferred medium, Facebook Live, for a two hour presentation of his plan of government. This was the second scheduled debate in a row in which Bukele has refused to participate. Bukele also refused to participate in a debate sponsored by the University of El Salvador. His running mate, Felix Ulloa, failed to appear for a vice presidential debate a week earlier.
With as much as a 20 point margin in the polls, Bukele probably figured he had nothing to gain by showing up at debates where he knew that all three other candidates would be aiming at bringing him down. Bukele's stated reasons for not attending were complaints about the formats of the debates with short times given for responses to questions (two minutes or less) and alleging that the University of El Salvador debate had been rigged by ARENA and the International Republican Institute.
Instead, Bukele stood alone on a stage in an auditorium, in a fashion one commentator compared to Steve Jobs, surrounded by large video screens, and made a multi-media presentation of his proposals for government. You can watch a replay of his event here.
The debate Sunday night with the other presidential candidates proceeded as you might imagine. Each candidate included an attack on the absence of Bukele in their opening statement. There followed rounds of questions where the candidates gave their prepared talking points in fairly typical political debate fashion. The moderator allowed some back and forth with the candidates. You can watch a replay of the debate here.
This is only the second presidential election where there has been a televised debate in El Salvador. The first was in 2014. In 2009, Rodrigo Avila of ARENA refused to debate TV journalist turned politician Mauricio Funes.
It is a pity that Nayib Bukele decided to boycott that last two debates. Despite all the shortcomings of the debate format, debates give the population a chance to see all the candidates together on one stage in a fashion not scripted by the campaigns. His decision not to participate was about what was good for his campaign, not about what is good for the consolidation of democracy in El Salvador.
With as much as a 20 point margin in the polls, Bukele probably figured he had nothing to gain by showing up at debates where he knew that all three other candidates would be aiming at bringing him down. Bukele's stated reasons for not attending were complaints about the formats of the debates with short times given for responses to questions (two minutes or less) and alleging that the University of El Salvador debate had been rigged by ARENA and the International Republican Institute.
Instead, Bukele stood alone on a stage in an auditorium, in a fashion one commentator compared to Steve Jobs, surrounded by large video screens, and made a multi-media presentation of his proposals for government. You can watch a replay of his event here.
The debate Sunday night with the other presidential candidates proceeded as you might imagine. Each candidate included an attack on the absence of Bukele in their opening statement. There followed rounds of questions where the candidates gave their prepared talking points in fairly typical political debate fashion. The moderator allowed some back and forth with the candidates. You can watch a replay of the debate here.
This is only the second presidential election where there has been a televised debate in El Salvador. The first was in 2014. In 2009, Rodrigo Avila of ARENA refused to debate TV journalist turned politician Mauricio Funes.
It is a pity that Nayib Bukele decided to boycott that last two debates. Despite all the shortcomings of the debate format, debates give the population a chance to see all the candidates together on one stage in a fashion not scripted by the campaigns. His decision not to participate was about what was good for his campaign, not about what is good for the consolidation of democracy in El Salvador.
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