THERE will be no Nick Clegg affect when socialist leader Francesc Antich clashes with his conservative counterpart Jose Ramon Bauza in this weekend´s televised debate between the two leaders ahead of the local elections later this month. Only Antich and Bauza are taking part with the door being firmly closed on leaders of all the other smaller parties.
The debate will take place on local television channel IB3. Political organisers say that only Antich and Bauza have a realistic chance of becoming leaders and therefore they should only take part.
But surely this is rather undemocratic. The fact that the Liberal Democrats were allowed to take part in the televised debates in the British general elections helped revitalise the campaign and gave Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg much exposure. I would like to see all the main parties have their say, because like Clegg, they could easily be helping to form the next Balearic government if Antich and Bauza fail to secure an overall majority. Watching Antich and Bauza fighting out is similar to watching paint dry...very dull! I say this because they fight it out every day in the newspapers and in parliament. If I was leader of one of the smaller parties I would be furious. Also, this election campaign is proving to be more boring than usual and a good debate between all the parties would certainly get the ball rolling and to some extent put Bauza and Antich on the spot.