(Sao Paulo) The two main candidates for the presidency of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro and Lula, accused each other of all the ills of the country in a first televised face-to-face on Sunday before the October poll.
Posted at 10:28 p.m.
These two rivals, central figures in the recent history of Brazil, face each other publicly for the first time.
“His government was the most corrupt in the history of Brazil”, launched against Lula – favorite according to the polls – the outgoing far-right president.
The person concerned, 76, replied by defending his government record (2003-2010) in terms of social reforms. According to him, Mr. Bolsonaro, 67, “is destroying” the country.
The two candidates accused each other of lying.
PHOTO MIGUEL SCHINCARIOL, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva
In the first part of the debate, which should last a total of three hours, Lula focused his speech around the defense of the environment and the Amazon.
As for Jair Bolsonaro, he had told journalists before this meeting that he saw no inconvenience in facing the former left-wing president, but that he would “not shake hands with a thief”, in reference to the case of corruption within the public oil company Petrobras.
Lula leads the race in the polls with 47% of voting intentions, against 32% for Jair Bolsonaro, according to the Datafolha institute. Other polls give Lula a lesser lead.
In addition to the two favorites, the organizers of the debate have invited four other candidates, including former finance minister Ciro Gomes of the PDT (center left) and Senator Simone Tebet of the MDB (centrist), respectively third and fourth in the polls.
In 2018, the year he won the election, Mr. Bolsonaro only participated in the first two debates. A month before the first round, he was stabbed at a rally and, after undergoing surgery, did not return to proceedings.