The three free-to-air television stations, RTP1, SIC and TVI, are demanding that presidential candidates only participate in the 28 television debates that they will organize between November 17th and December 22nd, DN learned from sources from various candidates.
“The acceptance of this expanded model of debates in FTA [free to air, ou televisão em sinal aberto, em português] requires candidates not to participate in other television debates”refer to the management of RTP1, SIC and TVI in two emails to which DN had access and which were sent to the representatives of seven presidential candidates, with the preliminary calendar of the debates.
The candidates selected to participate in the debates are Admiral Gouveia e Melo, Luís Marques Mendes, André Ventura, António Filipe, João Cotrim de Figueiredo, Catarina Martins and Jorge Pinto. Independent candidates or candidates supported by parties without parliamentary representation are left out, such as André Pestana, Joana Amaral Dias and Vitorino Silva.
In total, in the preliminary calendar that was sent to the seven candidates, 28 debates are planned, of which 12 will take place on RTP 1, eight on SIC and the same number on TVI (see grid below), all at the same time (9pm), but changes may occur due to the football games that will take place on those days.
The first duel will be between André Ventura and António José Seguro, at 9pm on November 17th, on TVI. The debate between Ventura and Marques Mendes is scheduled for November 25th, on SIC. Marques Mendes and Seguro will have their debate on December 3rd, while Gouveia e Melo will debate with Seguro on the 9th and with Ventura on December 15th. The last debate will take place on December 22nd, on TVI, and will be between Gouveia e Melo and Marques Mendes.
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