Analysis
David Dinis, deputy director of Expresso, warns of the risk of face-to-face debates between candidates once again focusing on tricks, attacks and television performances, instead of ideas and proposals for the country.
Debates for the . The first face-to-face is between André Ventura and António José Seguro. Nuno Ramos de Almeida, SIC commentator, and David Dinis, deputy director of Expresso, anticipate these debates. In total, there will be 28 half-hours each, between eight candidates. Tomorrow, on SIC, it’s time for the face-to-face between Luís Marques Mendes and António Filipe. RTP transmits 12, SIC and TVI 8, respectively. The last debate will be between Gouveia e Melo and Luís Marques Mendes, on December 22nd.
As the debates between the presidential candidates begin, expectations grow and concern grows about what will really happen after the half hour of confrontation. Between the exhaustion of years of post-debates, focused on “notes and performances”, and the need to refocus the discussion on substance, David Dinis believes that the time has come to change strategy.
“What we are going to try to do is ask commentators to choose the best used argument, the best argued point in each debate and the least well argued. We are trying to convince Expresso commentators to value the argumentative part, that is, the reasoning, the point that each of the debaters wants to raise in the face of their opponent”, explains the deputy director of Expresso.
Nuno Ramos de Almeida, in turn, points to the multiplicity of political readings that the debates will inevitably generate, from the candidates’ positioning to each one’s ability to withstand an entire month of television confrontations.
The SIC commentator is curious about Gouveia e Melo’s performance, about the space that António José Seguro will be able to occupy and about the dynamics on the left of the PS.
SIC commentators also analyze the impact of the general strike and the fragility of a Government in minority in a phase of strong labor disputes.
