Amid the general election turmoil, a lot of attention has focused recently on the issue of whether to air televised presidential debates.
During campaigning, candidates try their utmost to avoid one another. But in a more challenging situation such as participation in televised debates, face-to-face confrontations are unavoidable.
Hsu Hsin-liang (許信良), the candidate with the lowest popularity rating, would like to grasp this opportunity to gain more publicity and boost his own campaign morale.
Li Ao (李敖) -- whose intention is not to be elected but to participate -- strongly maintains that all candidates should join such debates. In this way, he can realize his fantasy of stepping into the ring for a few bouts with Lien Chan (連戰) and Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁).
James Soong (宋楚瑜), though not openly supportive of the idea at first, changed his mind to call for a debate to be held as early as possible.
It was clear his intention was to shift public attention away from the investigative report that was to be released by the Control Yuan, which was probing for financial skeletons in his closet.
To avoid becoming a lone target for potshots during debates, Chen said that he will join debates only when Lien also agrees to.
As for Lien, he was worried about being ganged up upon by the other four candidates, and so wants to have a one-on-one game against Chen only.
Because each camp had its own considerations, such televised political punch-ups never seemed to materialize, regardless of efforts made to organize them.
Though no stipulation can be found in the Public Officials Election and Recall Law (選罷法) stating all candidates should debate on the same stage, if candidates with higher support ratings agree to debate with the less popular ones, it will be a show of democratic advance.
The result of the upcoming Taiwan election is still extremely unclear, because almost 25 percent of the voters have not made up their minds about who they will choose in the three-way race.
What makes it more interesting is Li Ao has shown intentions to support James Soong. With this in mind, it is almost impossible for the five of them to debate on the same stage.
The results of many surveys indicate that up to 80 percent of the voters desire to see all five of them join debates. But candidates' concerns of winning the election take precedence over the promotion of democracy, it seems.
Now that debates have definitely been aborted, each camp is blaming each other for the outcome.
Some even placed responsibility on the media, and this really made voters moan and groan. But let's think about it -- are televised debates so critical a factor as to affect the result of an election?
The first televised presidential debate was held in the US in 1960 when John F. Kennedy ran against Richard Nixon. It was not only the first debate between presidential candidates, but also a milestone for an American political debate to be televised. It was so historic an event, it was even named "the Great Debate."
In Taiwan, the first debate was held during the 1994 gubernatorial election. Debates were also called during the presidential election in 1996 and the mayoral elections of Taipei and Kaohsiung cities in 1998. There is no denying televised debates have increasingly gained influence in Taiwan's elections.
But to what extent can televised debates affect voters' decisions? Various reports show televised debates can only reinforce, but not change people's original stands. However, debates serve as an important reference for undecided voters.
But it is also true that the results of televised debates vary a great deal depending on the political environment and campaign situations in which they are held.
Research has proved that televised debates provide voters with an excellent opportunity to understand the characters and policies of candidates.
During the 1998 mayoral elections in Taipei and Kaohsiung, surveys were done right after televised debates ended. The results highlighted factors such as candidates' performances during the debate and whether voters were vastly influenced by the event.
Other reports say the effect of televised debates is gradually decreasing because voters can rely on other media coverage, such as call-in shows and candidates' own Web pages, to get access to information on candidates.
Generally speaking, though the effect of televised debates remains undefined, it is clear debates are help the process of democracy and elevate voters' political knowledge.
No candidate can say he was not a part of the process that killed the televised debates for Taiwan's 2000 election. It is clear to see that it was Taiwan's presidential candidates who killed one of democracy's golden geese.
Ho Sheng-fei is a graduate student of the School of Journalism at National Chengchi University.
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