The country's first-ever televised debate between presidential candidates will be held this afternoon between President Chen Shui-bian (
DPP Legislator Lo Wen-jia (
Lo said the DPP's campaign headquarters had not arranged rehearsals for Chen in advance of the debate and that the president would not alter his work schedule in order to prepare for the debate.
He said that Chen had gained a great deal of debate experience through participating in debates during the 1994 and 1998 Taipei City mayoral election campaigns.
"It is inevitable that the debates will involve aggression and defense, but that's not what concerns the president most," Lo said.
"He feels people have long been been tired of seeing the aggressive acts of politicians. That is why he will focus his debate on proposing a blueprint for the administration's future policies and demonstrating the government's executive abil-ity," Lo said.
He yesterday declined to give further details on the content of Chen's blueprint of future policies, saying that the information was part of the party's campaign strategic secrets.
Public Television Service chairman Wu Feng-shan (
Five people, who were chosen according to principles of professionalism and impartiality, will pose the debate questions to the two candidates.
The five are Huang Kun-yen (
In related news, the DPP's cam-paign manager, Su Tseng-chang (
Chen and Vice President Annette Lu (
Su said yesterday that Chen's getting the first position was a symbol of the party's campaign to put reforms first.
Wang said the No. 2 position of Lien and Soong signifies the pan-blue alliance's determination to stage a second transition of political power.
The debate is co-sponsored by the Taipei Society (
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