Lula and Flávio Bolsonaro end their debate with no clear winner
Brazil's first runoff face-off was dominated by personal attacks and corruption charges, local press says, with the vote one week away.
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Senator Flávio Bolsonaro finished their first runoff debate on Sunday, Oct. 18, without Brazilian media naming a winner. The broadcaster Band hosted it in São Paulo, one week before the Oct. 25 vote in Latin America's largest economy.
Exame described a clash dominated by personal attacks and corruption accusations, with little room for policy. In Metrópoles, columnist Igor Gadelha called it a 0-0 draw: Flávio, a Liberal Party senator and the son of former President Jair Bolsonaro, controlled the stage more, but Lula fell into traps.
The tone turned sharp. According to Exame, Lula called his rival a "carioca malandro" ("a Rio rogue"), a phrase that could weigh on voters in Rio de Janeiro. Flávio said Lula had been convicted by the Supreme Federal Court; the outlet notes that the Car Wash convictions came from a lower court and were later annulled by the Supreme Court. Pressed by Lula, Flávio conceded that his father's handling of health during the pandemic "was not the best."
On the economy, Flávio proposed a debt-renegotiation plan with a six-month grace period for individuals and one year for companies. On security, he promised to treat the PCC, a criminal organization, as a narco-terrorist group. Lula defended the minimum wage and his government's public-security reform.
The race is tight. A Datafolha poll from Oct. 15 gave Flávio 51% of valid votes and Lula 49%, with a margin of error of two points, according to Band. The debate peaked at 5.39 million simultaneous connections on the network's YouTube channel, Poder360 reported.
Exame warns that the fight over already-decided voters may leave undecided ones aside. Upcoming polls will show whether the debate moved them before Oct. 25.
