MR ROSS PEROT will almost certainly be excluded from the presidential debates between President Clinton and Mr Bob Dole following a ruling here yesterday.
The bipartisan Commission on Presidential Debates announced that the billionaire leader of the Reform Party does not qualify for the series of three debates because he does not have a "reasonable" chance of being elected.
The decision is good news for the Dole campaign as Mr Perot is seen as likely to take more votes from the Republican contender than from President Clinton. In the 1992 election in which Mr Perot won 19 per cent of the votes, he is held responsible by Republicans for ensuring the defeat of President Bush. Mr Perot claims that he took votes equally from both candidates.
The decision by the commission could be overruled if both Mr Clinton and Mr Dole agreed to include Mr Perot in the debates, but this is unlikely in view of Mr Dole's opposition to him. Sources at the White House said that the Clinton campaign may try to appeal against the decision which was unanimous.
The Perot camp has called it a "travesty of justice" and said it may appeal to a court. It pointed out that over 60 per cent of the electorate has said he should be allowed to debate with the two main contenders.
Mr Perot's campaign has been struggling despite receiving $30 million in federal funding on the basis of his showing in the last election. According to opinion polls he has only 6 per cent support this time.
The commission in its ruling said that the debates had to be limited to those candidates who had a reasonable chance of being elected. Even with 19 per cent of the vote in 1992, Mr Perot did not win one electoral college vote, it pointed out.
The Clinton and Dole camps are still arguing over the dates and the length of the debates. Mr Dole wants four debates of a short length. There will also be one debate between the vice presidential candidates.