Five of the seven registered candidates in the race for the Chapala mayor’s seat have confirmed their participation in the municipality’s first-ever officially
sanctioned campaign debate. The event, organized under the auspices of the District 17 Electoral Council, will take place on Tuesday, May 26, starting at 6 p.m., in closed quarters on the campus of Chapala’s Escuela Preparatoria Regional.
Last month Citizen’s Movement candidate Moises Anaya Aguilar filed a formal request to hold a proper debate under regulations established by Instituto Electoral y de Participacion Ciudadana de Jalisco (IEPC). Subsequently, all other candidates were duly notified, with a three-day window to accept or refuse the invitation.
Leading political opponents Javier Degollado Gonzalez (PRI-PVEM) and Juan Carlos Pelayo Pelayo (PAN) agreed to enter the verbal fray, as did dark horse runners Mario Ferrer Villafuentes (PANAL) and Alejandro Ramirez Perez (PRD). Adriana Perez Ornelas (PT) and José de Jesús Hernandez Hernandez (Morena) did not respond one way or another within the given time frame.
Under terms hashed out among representatives of the individual campaign teams, the debate format will consist of three 25-minute thematic blocks, during which each candidate is allotted three minutes to present his views and proposals on specific subject matter, plus two-minute in the rebuttal round. Topics to be covered are tourism, public security and governance.
To maintain decorum and avoid extraneous disturbances, entrance to the debate venue will be restricted to the candidates, an impartial moderator selected by mutual consent, District 17 Council president Luis Armando Ayala Rodriguez acting as debate coordinator, and media personnel previously authorized to record the proceedings. The public will be able to tune in to the encounter through live stream transmission via the electoral institute’s website at www. iepcjalisco.org.mx.
During an interview with the Guadalajara Reporter early this week, Ayala stated that he is working closely with the candidates to offer a live broadcast of the debate played on large screen monitors set up at Chapala’s central plaza, but arrangements had not yet gelled at press time.