The PSOE has proposed that the Television Academy organize the two major election debates scheduled for the general elections of next 29 November if the Popular Party maintains its refusal for Radiotelevisión Española (RTVE) to host one of the meetings between the main candidates for the Presidency of the Government. The Pedro Sánchez party raises this alternative in view of the lack of agreement with the PP on the television channels tasked with organizing the face-to-face between Sánchez and Alberto Núñez Feijóo and the four-way debate with the candidates of the main political forces.
In a statement released this Monday, the socialists reiterate their willingness to take part in the election debates, but they insist on the need to guarantee an equitable distribution between public television and the major private media groups. Their initial proposal is to hold one of the meetings at RTVE and the other on a private channel. However, if the PP maintains its rejection of the debates of the candidates for the Presidency organized by the public corporation, Ferraz proposes that the Television Academy assume the organization of both meetings and provide a single signal that any television can broadcast.
The initiative represents a new move in the negotiations between the PSOE and the PP, which continue without closing the main debates of the election campaign. While the socialists defend the participation of RTVE, the conservatives back a face-to-face on Mediaset and a four-way debate organized by Atresmedia, a formula that Ferraz does not accept because it would leave public radio and television out of the meetings between candidates for the Presidency.
The PSOE demands that the PP accept an election debate on RTVE
The Socialist Party considers it essential that at least one of the major election debates be held on RTVE, as part of the public service role that the corporation carries out during election campaigns.
In its statement, Ferraz argues that the meetings must be distributed in an equitable manner between public and private operators and rejects that a single channel or media group has exclusivity over the debates.
"To debate without exclusivities and without excluding any television, especially the public one, remains an unrenounceable principle", the PSOE says, adding that it is necessary to ensure that citizens can learn about and compare the programmes of the main candidates.
In this context, the socialists are calling on the Partido Popular to accept one of the two formats proposed by RTVE: a face-off between Pedro Sánchez and Alberto Núñez Feijóo or a four-way debate with the main candidates.
The public corporation had offered to hold the clash between the leaders of the PSOE and the PP on November 17, in addition to a four-way debate on November 26. RTVE also proposed a third meeting with the spokespeople of the eight parliamentary groups in Congress for the day 23.
The PSOE also recalls that other leaders of the Partido Popular regularly take part in debates organized by autonomous public television stations. In particular, it mentions the cases of the president of the Junta de Andalucía, Juanma Moreno, on Canal Sur, and of the president of the Community of Madrid, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, on Telemadrid.
Ferraz accuses Feijóo of taking a different position regarding RTVE and argues that the PP leader is excluding the state public radio and television broadcaster from the main electoral events. This is a political interpretation by the socialists, since the PP has indeed shown its willingness to take part in the debate of parliamentary spokespersons proposed by RTVE, although it rejects its offers for the meetings between candidates for the Presidency.
The Television Academy, the alternative for organizing both debates
In the absence of an agreement between the two main parties, the PSOE formally proposes to all political formations and to the media groups that the Television Academy be in charge of organizing the two major debates.
This formula would allow an outside entity to assume the coordination of the face-off between Sánchez and Feijóo and of the four-way debate, without attributing their organization exclusively to RTVE, Mediaset or Atresmedia.
The proposal provides that the television signal be neutral and available to all operators that wish to broadcast the meetings, so that public and private channels can air them simultaneously.
The socialists recall that the Television Academy has already taken part in the organization of electoral debates on previous occasions and believe that this experience could facilitate an agreement.
The institution, however, has not confirmed its participation in the new formula proposed by the PSOE. Its emeritus president, Manuel Campo Vidal, explained on October 23 that the Academy remained outside negotiations between parties and television channels and that it would intervene only if no agreement was reached.
Therefore, the initiative announced by Ferraz is a proposal directed at the parties and audiovisual operators, not a closed agreement on holding the debates.
The PP bets on Mediaset and Atresmedia for the debates of 29N
Disagreements between the PSOE and the PP mainly center on which channels should organize the meetings, since both parties have publicly expressed their willingness to take part in a face-to-face between Sánchez and Feijóo.
The Partido Popular has accepted the proposal of Mediaset to hold that showdown on Monday, November 16, with broadcast planned on Telecinco and Cuatro. In addition, it has confirmed its willingness to take part in a four-way debate organized by Atresmedia on Thursday, November 26.
The PP’s general secretary, Miguel Tellado, conveyed in writing to both media groups Feijóo’s commitment to attend both appointments and called on the PSOE to confirm its participation.
From Génova, they accuse the socialists of blocking Atresmedia’s proposal and argue that their refusal to accept that channel for the four-way debate is preventing the electoral calendar from being finalized.
The PSOE, for its part, insists that it does not veto any private operator, but it conditions the agreement on public television not being excluded from the main debates. Sánchez’s party had already agreed to take part in a face-to-face on a private channel, although it maintains that the two meetings must be negotiated jointly.
The new proposal from the Television Academy precisely seeks to overcome this disagreement, although it will still be necessary to know the response from the PP and the audiovisual groups.
Sánchez and Feijóo’s debates remain unresolved at the doorstep of the campaign
The negotiation is taking place a few days before the official start of the electoral campaign on November 13, which will end on the 27th, before the general elections on Sunday the 29th.
The main precedent dates back to the general elections of July 2023, when Sánchez and Feijóo took part in a head-to-head organized by Atresmedia. Subsequently, a four-way debate was held on RTVE, to which the leader of the Partido Popular decided not to attend.
The PSOE uses this precedent to argue that the two main formats must be guaranteed jointly. The PP, in contrast, maintains its preference for private groups for meetings between candidates for the Presidency.
While negotiations continue, RTVE maintains its offer of debates and private operators have also submitted their proposals. The lack of agreement affects the major appointments between national leaders, although other sectoral debates already scheduled during the campaign do exist.
With its new statement, the PSOE introduces an alternative so that the Television Academy organizes both meetings and allows them to be broadcast by all interested channels. The proposal is now pending the response of the Partido Popular and of the audiovisual operators, in a negotiation that has not yet managed to guarantee the holding of the two main election debates of 29N.