The far-right president is seeking re-election relying mainly on the evangelical and business vote, but in the polls he is behind the former leftist president, who could come to power for the third time.
Without campaign commitments this Thursday, Lula, 76, and Bolsonaro, 67, spent the day preparing for the traditional debate on TV Globo, usually the most watched before the elections.
The crossing, which begins at 10:30 p.m. local time (01:30 GMT on Friday), is seen as the last great opportunity for the candidates to attract votes, three days before the first round.
According to the latest survey by the Datafolha Institute published last Thursday, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has 47% of the voting intentions compared to 33% for Bolsonaro.
Considering only the valid votes (without blanks or null), Lula gathers 50% of the support, the minimum percentage to obtain a victory in the first round.
86% of the electorate has already decided their vote, according to the survey.
Datafolha publishes a new poll this Thursday before the television meeting, the second that will face Bolsonaro and Lula and five other candidates after the one held on August 28.
“It is the debate that can change the scenario,” a source from the campaign of Bolsonaro, candidate of the Liberal Party (PL), told AFP.
Collaborators of the president expect Bolsonaro to adopt an aggressive tone against Lula, attacking him for the corruption scandals uncovered during the governments of the Workers Party (PT) (2003-2016) and taking him to the field of conservative values that the president defends, such as religion or against abortion.
– “Helpful” vote –
For Lula, who seeks to return to the Planalto Palace after having governed Brazil between 2003 and 2010, coming out of the debate with flying colors could give him a final push to consecrate himself president on Sunday.
“We feel confident, although prepared for the second” round, said a source from the PT campaign, on condition of anonymity.
In the first debate, the former president was criticized for avoiding accusations of corruption while he was absent from another meeting in which Bolsonaro and other candidates participated, held last Saturday.
The leftist campaign has called Brazilians to vote “useful” already in the first round, to try to capture votes from other candidates more relegated in the polls, such as the center-leftist Ciro Gomes (7% of the intention to vote) and Senator Simone Tebet (5%).
Lula has also won the support of symbolic figures, such as former Federal Supreme Court judge Joaquim Barbosa, rapporteur for a corruption scandal involving vote-buying in Congress during the first government of the former PT president.
In addition to the Datafolha poll, other pollsters reflected the possibility that Lula wins in the first round by the minimum.
If none of the candidates reaches 50% of the votes, there will be a second round on October 30.
This Thursday’s survey by Datafolha, one of the reference institutes in Brazil, will be published based on 6,800 interviews, a higher number than usual.
On Saturday, he will again broadcast a final survey carried out after the debate.
In a polarized climate and to prevent any outbreak of violence, the Superior Electoral Court decided on Thursday to prohibit the carrying of weapons and ammunition throughout the country by licensed citizens, such as hunters, collectors and shooters, between Saturday and Monday. .
The court had previously prohibited carrying firearms in polling stations and within a 100-meter perimeter on election day.
