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On Friday night, weeks after Karoui and Saied took the top two places in the first round vote, Tunisians will see them debate face-to-face for the first time.

Six federal leaders come together for the second French-language debate 11 days before the election. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh, Green Party Leader Elizabeth May, Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet and People’s Party of Canada

The real problem is the way that the Democratic National Committee (like the RNC in 2016) has ceded control of the debates to the television networks.

The release means a televised debate can now take place between Saied and Karoui, who missed Tunisia’s first ever such event between the 26 candidates who ran in the initial round of the election.

Subjects could be explored at greater length. Leaders could develop a point. The media would stop treating them like prize-fights

It also gives voters an opportunity to see how the candidates conduct themselves under the spotlight. While response times are usually limited and there’s little if any chance for follow-up questions, debates can still give residents a chance to see how candidates react on their feet.

The viewership for Monday's leaders' debate was far higher than contests in the last election, despite complaints that the format favoured conflict over substance.

The formats and medium of modern leaders’ debates tend to encourage shallowness and repetition. The goal of the debater isn’t to “win” by advancing the better argument, but rather to repeat slogans and fire off one-liners that will get picked up by viewers and, ideally, the media.

For the first time, all Canada's main party leaders were on stage together, in what is likely to have been the most watched TV debate in this federal election campaign.

A decision to release Karoui from prison, temporarily or otherwise, to take part in live, in-studio debates rests solely with the Tunisian judiciary. It remains the best hope to ensure the principle of equal opportunity.

Jailed Nabil Karoui's ongoing silence is deafening the electoral debate. He must be allowed to address the Tunisian people

True North reporter Andrew Lawton is taking the federal government to court for its decision to deny him media accreditation for the English language federal leaders’ debate on Monday.