The Jamaican Debates Commission is a joint venture between Media Association Jamaica Ltd. (MAJ) and the Jamaica Chamber of Commerce (JCC).

At its inception in 2002, the Commission noted that its purposes were: To create an environment in which the political parties and their representatives can focus on issues during a General Election campaign, lift the level of public discussion, educate and inform the public about the real issues that should guide electors in casting their votes.

The JDC was formed in 2002 ahead of the General Elections. The legal entity was registered  in 2007.

Debates are held in advance of general elections and local government elections.

General elections are called at the discretion of the Prime Minister. These are constitutionally due no later than five (5) years after previous general elections.

Local Government elections are due 4 years after the previous Local Government election.

The work for debates starts at least 18 months before elections (local or general) are due.

The JDC is a non- profit organisation and funding for the debates is done via sponsorship. Our sponsors have included multilateral agencies, foundations, and private sector organisations.

Yes, the JDC was granted charitable status in August 2019

No. Members volunteer their time.  

No

Any political party that meets the criteria for participation will be allowed to take part in debates hosted by the J.D.C. ( see criteria )

Any political party that meets the criteria for participation will be allowed to take part in debates hosted by the J.D.C. (see criteria)

The debaters are selected by their respective political parties.

The moderators and questioners were chosen from a pool of candidates nominated by the editors of several media houses

Questions are formulated entirely by the questioning journalists and also posed by the public through social media. The JDC, the political parties, nor sponsors have no influence on the questions asked.  

No

No. The political parties are advised of the plans and are permitted to share any specific concerns that they may have. The concerns are addressed by the Commission through research and thorough investigation. The political parties do not have veto power over any decision of the Commission.

No

The Commission is of the view that several persons in the diaspora have an interest in critical events like the national general election and would be desirous of seeing and hearing the debates.

Given their wealth of experience, representatives of both organizations were invited to provide technical advice ahead of both the 2002 and the 2007 debates.