The candidates, according to the organizers of the debate – Palau Bar Association and Palau Chamber of Commerce and technical support of OTV – were given sets of questions prior to the debate. However, due to time constraints, not all of the questions were asked. Most of the questions that were asked revolved around the government’s debts, government employment, and the economy.
The candidates, despite presenting differing plans, all seem to agree that, if elected, each would audit the government within the first 100 days of office, cut unnecessary expenses, reduce government employment, adjust the salary scale, and begin paying off debts to local businesses and outside grantors.During the course of the debate, Koshiba continuously pointed to alleged existing corruption in the government that directly points to apparent oversight of the ministry of justice, which to most, greatly undermined Chin – Palau’s Minister of Justice.In return, Chin asked that Koshiba stop the covert insults and provide the necessary evidence for justice to be served.Certain facts were revealed during the debate. Palau spends more than half – over $29 million – of its annual budget on salaries, and it has a debt estimate to be over $10 million and rising. The four candidates acknowledged these facts and each reiterated his plans – as campaigned throughout Palau – to make the lives of every citizen particularly the lowly a little better than it presently is.The President of the Palau Bar Association, Judge Duchy Senior, said at the conclusion of the debate “this enables the voters to make an informed choice” as to who they will pick to be the next president. In a random phone poll, as far as how each of the candidates faired in the debate, Toribiong received the highest approval followed by Koshiba, Chin, and Surangel.
