President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Senator Flavio Bolsonaro met on Friday night for the last televised debate before Sunday’s presidential runoff, an encounter of more than two hours on Globo, Brazil’s most watched channel, that turned on the cost of living, welfare and security, with each man accusing the other of corruption.
Flavio Bolsonaro, the son of former president Jair Bolsonaro, attacked the government on food prices, saying prices rose during Lula’s administration, and criticised the tax reform approved by the current government, projecting that the new rules would raise the tax burden on consumers. Lula, he said, does not even remember the last time he went grocery shopping because he lives in a luxury palace now.
Lula, who is seeking a fourth term after winning back the presidency in 2022, defended his government’s above inflation minimum wage increases and stressed that his administration helped millions of Brazilians escape hunger. He said the younger Bolsonaro is like students studying for college entrance exams, who can memorise things but cannot learn, and that in the gated community where Bolsonaro lives, people do not go hungry.
The debate was the second and final head to head of the runoff campaign, and Reuters reported that the personal attacks that marked the first encounter were toned down in the early segments, with both candidates mostly working through pre-established themes before the exchanges sharpened. Flavio Bolsonaro led Lula in the first round earlier this month, but opinion polls this week show the two about even after the gap narrowed.
Polls close on Sunday, October 25. The result will settle a campaign this site has tracked through the first round and the runoff polling, and it carries the regional weight noted in yesterday’s risk dashboard: Argentina’s President Milei has feuded openly with Lula through the campaign, and a disputed or polarised count would transmit quickly into Mercosur trade politics, the real and Brazilian rates.