The president of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro, attended this Sunday the first debate ahead of the elections on October 2, after having kept his participation unknown until the last minute.
The leader of the extreme right did not confirm at any time his attendance at the debate, which cites the six main candidates. However, last Friday he said in an interview that it was likely that he would attend the event, which has caused great expectation in Brazil.
Arriving at the Band television studios, Bolsonaro announced that he will show “what was corruption” in the government of former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silvahis main rival in the elections.
Lula, who comfortably leads the voting intention polls, confirmed his attendance at the debate on Saturday.
The debate
The debate is being held at the Band television studios in São Paulo. It was organized by a media consortium, also made up of Folha de Sao Paulo, LOU and Culture TV.
Hours before the start of the debate, the Labor candidate Ciro Gomes, third in the polls, complained on social networks that there had been a change in the position of the candidates on the set.
The change of venue, according to Gomes, occurred at the request of Lula and Bolsonaro, which would have gone against the agreement previously made by the candidates, who decided the positions by lottery.
In addition to Bolsonaro, Lula and Gomes, Simone Tébet, who leads a center-right coalition, the liberal Luiz Felipe D’Ávila and the right-wing Soraya Thronicke have been invited to the debate.
All the polls draw a very polarized scenario between Lula. He heads a coalition of ten progressive-leaning parties, and Bolsonaro, leader of the extreme right.
The polls place Lula as the favorite to win the elections, with about 45% of the intention to vote, compared to 30% for Bolsonaro, 7% for Gomes, while none of the other four candidates exceeds 2%.
