Is Milei fit for the presidential debates?

Friday, September 29th 2023 - 09:21 UTC

According to uncorroborated rumors circulating in Buenos Aires Thursday, Congressman Javier Milei, the presidential candidate from La Libertad Avanza (LLA) was suffering from some sort of mental breakdown, which raised the possibility that he might not be fit for the mandatory debates with the other four contenders who made it through the Aug. 13 Mandatory, Open, and Simultaneous Primary (PASO) elections.

Milei has canceled an interview with the CNN network among other engagements and has not been seen in public in the last few days, thus fueling speculations as to the reasons for such a behavior. The economist has also been said to be harboring second thoughts about his candidacy after a gathering at the US Embassy where support from Washington was reportedly not as strong as he had imagined.

Since 2015, debates have been held in order for the candidates to convey their proposals to voters because the citizenry has “the right to an informed vote and have the right to know how things are going to be,” according to the National Electoral Court of Appeals (CNE).

As per Law 27337, all candidates attaining over 1.5% of the votes in the PASO elections must participate in the two presidential debates. Failure to appear would result in the loss of all audiovisual advertising spaces granted free of charge by the National Electoral Direction (DINE). In addition, “the physical space that would have been assigned to the missing candidate will remain empty together with the rest of the participants, in order to denote their absence,” the law mandates.

More:
https://en.mercopress.com/2023/09/29/is-milei-fit-for-the-presidential-debates