(Rio de Janeiro) The last televised debate between Lula and Jair Bolsonaro began on Friday with heated exchanges, the two presidential candidates insistently calling each other “liars”, two days before the second round.
Posted at 9:32 p.m.
“This guy is the biggest liar in the history of Brazil”, launched the left-wing ex-president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, 77, from the first minutes of the debate broadcast on TV Globo, the most watched channel from the country.
“Are we going to have to exorcise him to stop him lying?” “retorted for his part the far-right head of state.
“He thinks he is the” little father of the poor “”, added Mr. Bolsonaro, 67, before calling Lula a “bandit”.
“I am not here to respond (to the provocations) of my adversary, I have come to speak to the Brazilian people,” the left-wing icon said, calling the far-right president “unbalanced.”
This debate is taking place on the home stretch of an often filthy campaign, full of dirty tricks and massive misinformation on social media.
Metaphor with round ball
Lula slightly increased his lead in the latest poll by the benchmark institute Datafolha, published Thursday, with 53% of the voting intentions expressed, against 47% for the far-right president.
A gap of six points, which was only four points last week.
With this advantage, and if the polls are true, “Lula can be content to play for a draw, while Bolsonaro must win by several goals” during the debate this Friday, estimated political columnist Josias de Souza on the UOL news site, with a sports metaphor that Brazilians love.
“The only thing that can turn the tide is the televised debate, 55% of voters say it’s an important moment for their decision-making. The slightest slip can be decisive for the final result,” Felipe Nunes, political scientist and director of the Quaest polling institute, told AFP.
During the only other face-to-face between Lula and Bolsonaro, on October 16, on the Bandeirantes channel, the exchanges had been less aggressive than before. During the debates before the first round, bringing together other candidates, hateful remarks had flared up on both sides.
In the first round, on October 2, Lula came out on top with 48% of the vote, against 43% for Jair Bolsonaro.
But the far-right president’s score turned out to be much higher than the polls predicted, giving him some momentum for the campaign between rounds.
Two hiccups
However, this momentum was slowed down by two major hiccups: unwelcome statements by the Minister of the Economy Paulo Guedes, indicating that the increase in the minimum wage could no longer be indexed to inflation, and the incredible arrest of a former – Bolsonarist deputy who injured police officers with grenades.
Feeling cornered, President Bolsonaro, who had muted his criticisms of the electronic ballot box system, found a new hobbyhorse this week: the denunciation of alleged irregularities in the broadcasting of electoral propaganda on the radio.
The Superior Electoral Court (TSE) rejected the request of the Head of State’s campaign team, arguing that no evidence had been presented, which could constitute an “electoral offense” and an attempt to “destabilize of the second round”.
According to experts, Mr. Bolsonaro is preparing the ground to challenge the result in the event of defeat, fueling fears of violent incidents, like the invasion of the Capitol in Washington after the defeat of Donald Trump in the American presidential election, in January 2021.
A former adviser to Lula’s party assassinated
A former Workers’ Party (PT) city councilor was shot dead in Sao Paulo on Friday, two days before the second round of the presidential election, for reasons yet to be determined, party members said.
“I learn with great sadness and concern the news of the murder of comrade Zezinho”, said on Twitter Jilmar Tatto, elected deputy of the PT in Sao Paulo, adding that the party, to which the candidate Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva belongs , will closely follow “this crime and its motivations”.
The murder occurred in Jandira, a municipality in the metropolitan region of Sao Paulo.
According to local media, Zezinho, born Reginaldo Camilo dos Santos, was a candidate for the post of federal deputy in the legislative elections held on October 2, parallel to the presidential election which sees Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Jair Bolsonaro clash in the second round.
Zezinho, 51, worked for the campaign of Fernando Haddad, who will participate in the second round of voting for the governorship of Sao Paulo on Sunday.
The G1 news site said the police’s “initial suspicion” is of “political revenge”, following allegations Mr Zezinho raised about an alleged corruption scheme in the mayor of Jandira’s office.
The Sao Paulo security secretariat confirmed to AFP that “a man was shot and killed on Friday afternoon” and that agents are investigating the incident, without giving further details.
Mr Tatto told the newspaper O Globo that “everything indicates that it is the action of a pro-Bolsonaro in the climate of intolerance which reigns in the country”.
Throughout the campaign, Brazil recorded nearly two episodes of political violence per day in the two months leading up to the first round, according to a report by NGOs Justiça Global and Terra de direitos.
Between 1er August and October 2, a total of 121 cases were recorded, including murders, attacks, threats or assaults (physical or verbal).