“Lie”. “Stop lying, will I have to exorcise him to stop lying?” Jair Bolsonaro and Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva exchanged accusations and tried to reach undecided voters this Friday (28.10.2022) with key issues such as the economy and abortion, in the latest debate two days before the ballot in Brazil .
The president and the former president have accused each other relentlessly, bogging down the discussion in the latest television crossroads, in which both seduce the most vulnerable electorate.
“Lula, you know the whole system is against me (…), stop lying,” said the far right, who kept talking outside his lectern, dressed in a suit, blue tie and constantly checking the notes on the left hand. . “Will I have to exorcise him to stop lying?” he added him.
Lula, wearing a red tie and listening to Bolsonaro from his lectern, assured that “the Brazilians know who the liar is” and attacked the rival’s leadership.
the tension was palpable
“For four years this man (Bolsonaro) ruled the country and gave no real salary increase, that’s the truth,” Lula blurted out after the president promised to readjust the minimum wage from the current 1,212 reais -229 dollars – to 1,400 reais -265 dollars-.
Lula, 77, also accused Bolsonaro of “isolating Brazil from the world” during his rule: “Brazil is more isolated than Cuba. Cubans have relations with almost all of South America. You have no relations with anyone.”
The tension was palpable at times.
“Stay here, Luiz Inácio,” Bolsonaro asked at a time when they were close. “I don’t want to be near you,” replied the left, moving away.
Lula leads the polls
Lula, who arrives as the favorite in the polls, and Bolsonaro, who is asking for re-election at the age of 67, debated on Tv Globo after a month of campaign plagued by low blows and disinformation on television and social networks.
The candidates accused each other of being in favor of abortion. Lula read a 1992 speech in which the president, as an MP, defended the use of contraceptive pills in Congress, called “abortion pills” by the PT candidate.
“You are a convinced abortionist. You have no respect for life,” Bolsonaro replied, visibly nervous after the indictment. Later, he raised his arms and alluded to God with a wink to the evangelical electorate.
In the latest Datafolha poll, published Thursday, Lula regained a six-point lead by garnering 53% of the vote against the president’s 47%, considering the votes to be valid, without null or void.
In the first round on October 2, Lula got 48% of the votes and Bolsonaro an astonishing 43%, surpassing what was predicted by the polls.
jc (afp, efe)