Forum:Election Debate

This page will be the location for the first debate of the 2015 federal election. The following parties will be represented:
 * Conservative Christian Party of Lovia, by Oos Wes Ilava
 * Conservative Nationalist Party, by Lukas Hoffmann
 * Social Liberal Party, by William Krosby
 * Green Party, by Nicholas Sheraldin
 * Republican Initiative, by Aina Sarria
 * United Left, by Justin Abrahams

Rules: The forum will be open for 48 hours, from 00:00 on Saturday 28th of March to 24:00 Sunday 29th of March. The debate will be divided into the following sections:
 * Opening statement. You can add this to the forum prior to the opening of the debate. Statements should be around 150 words.
 * Main debate. This will consist of 6 questions asked by audience members, covering the range of topics listed in the Pub. Each leader will answer one question, but there will be extended discussion so all leaders have a chance to offer their views on the topic, and to challenge the other views presented. Because of the constraints of the forum, we'll discuss the 6 topics concurrently in separate sections of the forum. You can discuss as you wish; the moderator (me) will probably intervene to direct the discussion towards certain areas.
 * Closing statement. Add this towards the end of the weekend, if you think you won't be able to edit again before the debate ends. If you don't manage to add it by Sunday, it'll be fine. Again, around 150 words.

Important points:
 * If two of you are online simultaneously (I'm thinking specifically of Kunarian and Horton here) limit your exchanges to a couple of replies each, and continue the argument on the talk page if you want to.
 * As I said, each topic will begin with a question directed specifically to one of the debaters. Please answer this as soon as possible so others can comment on that topic too. If you don't succeed in answering by the end of Saturday or so, I shall have to open the discussion to the other participants.
 * Rather than signing edits, please start your comment with the character's surname, in capitals, followed by a colon (e.g. Ilava: I like barbecues.)
 * If there's an edit conflict, try not to delete anyone else's edit, but add 'edit conflict' to the summary, so I can check you didn't.
 * I'm aware of time zone differences and other commitments (like 77topaz's field trip), but there's a lot of time available and as long as everyone provides at least one comment on most of the topics, it should work out ok. There's no need to invest a vast amount of time.
 * I have created the forum now so everyone can have a think about the format, prepare a statement and policies, or tell me how stupid it is; in the last case, there's time to make some changes prior to the start.

Opening statements
Moderator: Welcome to the first of the 2015 election debates. The leaders of Lovia's most important political parties are here today to explain why they deserve your vote. We'll start by hearing an opening statement from each of the leaders.