ELECTION BRAZIL. Lula and Bolsonaro took advantage of the presidential debate between the two rounds to convince voters for the election of October 30, 2022 in Brazil. The candidates preferred to bet on attacks rather than on the defense of their program.
There is no campaign without debate and the candidates for the presidential election in Brazil know it well. Yet no organized confrontation between the various contenders for the presidency has shone by its level and they are the only ones to blame, in particular Lula and Bolsonaro. If during the three debates held before the first round, the two favorites in the election were destabilized or even handicapped by the presence of other competitors and the countless attacks aimed at them, they no longer have any excuses for justify their mediocre performance during the inter-round period. Both voters and the press expected a lot from the televised debate on October 16, but the two candidates preferred, as often, to dwell on criticism of the opponent’s record or program rather than defending their own presidential projects. Insults and provocations flared during the almost two hours of debate, Lula was thus described as a “national disgrace” and “king of false information” while Bolsonaro was called a “little dictator”.
Between Lula and Bolsonaro, sterile presidential debates?
The October 16 debate did not advance the presidential campaign for the Brazilian election. While Lula and Bolsonaro each had almost an hour of speaking time, they preferred to squander it by trading repeated attacks at rallies rather than paying attention to voter concerns. However, there are many fundamental issues during the presidential election as Brazil is going through a socio-economic, environmental and democratic crisis. Some were put on the table by the hosts and moderators of the debate, but the exchanges were sorely lacking in depth. While the candidates’ particular economic programs remain unclear on certain points, neither Lula nor Bolsonaro took advantage of the debate to present and defend his future policy. No new solution to try to get Brazil out of the crisis has been mentioned on the left or on the far right, the two candidates relying on promises to increase aid or the minimum wage. Same observation on other important subjects such as the protection of the environment and the Amazon or the place of Brazil in international politics, a point on which Lula castigated the results of the outgoing president and assured of “reopening Brazil to the world. “.
Who from Lula or Bolsonaro won the presidential debate?
Impossible to name a winner on the merits, the form having taken over during the duel between Lula and Bolsonaro. On the set, the two candidates rather saw each other in a ring and the attacks followed one another. Lula took the lead in the first half of the debate by holding Bolsonaro responsible for “negligence” and the health disaster caused by the Covid-19 crisis in Brazil, during which 680,000 people died from the virus. The left-wing candidate also attacked the outgoing president, calling him a “little dictator” wishing to undermine independence and the judiciary.
The balance of power was then reversed when Jair Bolsonaro touched the sensitive chord of the Workers’ Party: corruption cases. While Lula kicked into touch, the outgoing president continued on the reports of the opposing candidate with the authoritarian governments of the left of the neighboring countries of Brazil. The scales finally returned to balance at the end of the debate but Lula scored one more point by playing the card of subtle provocation and forcing the Liberal Party candidate to shoot himself in the foot. While two days before the debate Lula had accused Bolsonaro of pedophile behavior and tendencies after the head of state’s ambiguous remarks about young Venezuelan teenage girls in an interview granted on October 14, the left-wing candidate decided to adorn his jacket with a brooch bearing the logo of the fight against the sexual abuse of children and adolescents. The outgoing president felt compelled to respond to the accusations and defend himself, but remembered his unfortunate exit, which may have served him badly.
A last debate before the presidential election?
Two debates were announced during the campaign between the two rounds of the presidential election in Brazil. Two debates is also the limit that Lula set after qualifying for the second round. But less than a week before the election, the holding of a second confrontation seems compromised. After the duel of October 16, the media CNN Brasil was to broadcast another one on the evening of Friday October 21. But when the day came, Lula declined the invitation on the pretext of “incompatibility with his campaign schedule”. The meeting which was to be the second debate therefore became an interview with Jair Bolsonaro.
After a lackluster first debate and Lula’s last-minute cancellation, Brazilian voters are wondering if a second debate will take place before the Oct. 30 ballot. According to Bruno Meyerfeld, correspondent for The world in Rio de Janeiro, a debate is expected on Friday, October 28, the last day during which the audiovisual media can be campaign sites for Lula and Bolsonaro. The information has yet to be confirmed but if the debate does not take place, there is little chance that another duel on a TV set will be organized between the two tenors of politics.