The Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) is considering putting up for the first time, Â President John Mahama of the ruling National Democratic Congress against his main contender Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) , in a two-man presidential debate ahead of the November 7 general elections..
Â
The idea, the IEA says, Â is in response to the results of a survey it conducted on how the public wants the presidential debate.
This was disclosed during the launch of the IEA’s Presidential debates and Evening encounters in Accra.
The IEA has only been inviting political parties with presence in Parliament since the debates started in 2008 Â but the Institute says it will hold a separate debate for all parties without representation in parliament.
According, Senior Research Fellow of the Institut,  Dr. Michael Ofori-Mensah said “there are two new initiatives under discussion for 2016 elections.
First the IEA is exploring the possibility of holding a debate for the two main front-runners in the presidential election.
"The second is that we are at an advanced stage about holding a separate debate for political parties without representation in parliament," he said.
He also revealed that the Evening Encounters will focus on the individual candidates and the electorate to help them make an informed choice during the election.
The Evening Encounters will begin in the middle of June and end in July 2016. The Presidential Debates will take off in the second week of September and end in the third week of October, starrfmonline reported.