You Must Be a Television Star, Politician or Not

On December 13 Verkhovna Rada passed the law On Compulsory Televised Debates During Presidential and People Deputies’ Election Campaigns in Ukraine in the first reading, reports Interfax Ukraine. According to the law, all candidates for president in the presidential campaign, and the blocks and party leaders, district candidates, and electoral blocks leaders in the parliamentary elections are to take part in the televised debates. The law envisions equal conditions for all debate participants. The debates between the candidates for president and between the parties and blocks leaders are to be held on all television and radio companies broadcasting on the national channels regardless of the form of their ownership, debates between district candidates by regional television companies of all forms of ownership. The law assumes that the candidates opting to not take part in the debates are quitting the elections.

Not conducting televised debates in part or full or breaking the terms of their organization will bring about cancellation of the television or radio company’s license. The draft law was introduced by Batkivshchyna faction members Zoreslava Romovska and Serhiy Pravdenko. It was supported by 242 out of 397 deputies registered in the hall with one vote against.