- In Brazil, the first televised debate took place before the presidential election.
- It was heated between incumbent Jair Bolsonaro and his most promising challenger Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
- Both have made each other responsible for all the abuses in the country and accused each other of lying.
Bolsonaro accused left-leaning ex-President Lula of having the most corrupt government in Brazil’s history. ‘What do you want to return to? To keep doing what you did with Petrobras?” he asked Lula, referring to the bribery scandal surrounding the semi-state oil company.
Legend:
According to polls, Lula is currently well ahead of the incumbent president.
Keystone/AP Photo/Andre Penner
Lula, the Labor Party (PT) politician, denied the accusation made by the far-right incumbent, citing anti-corruption measures during his tenure. He went on to say that Bolsonaro was about to destroy Brazil. He also pointed out that many social reforms had been initiated during his reign from 2003 to 2010.
First round of voting on October 2nd
In addition to Bolsonaro and Lula, four more of the twelve presidential candidates took part in the three-hour debate, including ex-Finance Minister Ciro Gomes from the centre-left PDT party and Senator Simone Tebet from the centre-left MDB party.
Legend:
Will Bolsonaro turn things around?
Reuters/Carla Carniel
Polls put 76-year-old Lula ahead of Bolsonaro ahead of the first round of elections on October 2nd. According to a survey by the opinion research institute Datafolha, the ex-president can count on 47 percent of the votes, while the 67-year-old incumbent can only count on 32 percent. If none of the candidates wins more than 50 percent of the votes in the first ballot, a runoff will be held on October 30.