The last debate before the first round of the Brazilian presidential elections on Sunday was marked by exchanges of accusations between candidates, especially those of corruption between the favorites, Jair Bolsonaro and Lula da Silva.
The long event, which began at 10:30 p.m. and lasted until 02:00 local time (06:00 Lisbon), was broadcast on the open channel of Globo, the largest television channel of the South American giant, and featured the assistance by Ciro Gomes (PDT), Jair Bolsonaro (PL), Padre Kelmon (PTB), Luiz Felipe D’Ávila (Novo), Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT), Simone Tebet (MDB) and Soraya Thronicke (União Brasil) .
Father Kelmon (PTB), who served as Bolsonaro’s cane throughout the debate, questioned the Brazilian president if the left wants to “close churches and silence priests.”
Bolsonaro responded that “the future of the nation is at stake” and accused Lula of having been the “chief of the gang.”
From there, the debate led to an exchange of accusations of corruption and requests for the right of reply between the two main candidates.
“Behave like a president, don’t lie,” said Lula, who later denounced alleged cases of corruption by Bolsonaro in the negotiations for the purchase of vaccines against covid-19 that did not materialize, but also a case that involved the Ministry of Education , where evangelical pastors asked their municipalities for money.
“Traitor to the Fatherland. Cracked [desvio de salários de assessores] They are your children. Millions were stolen from you after you came to power,” Bolsonaro accused, adding: “Liar, ex-convict, traitor to the country.”
Lula guaranteed that on Sunday “the people” will send the Brazilian president “home”
At one point, Ciro Gomes, third in the polls, let off steam, jokingly: “Can I wait outside?”
Jair Bolsonaro also took the opportunity to recall the assassination of Celso Daniel, an important leader of the Workers’ Party (PT), the party founded and directed by Lula, assassinated in 2002, in a crime initially attributed to militants of that political party. party that opposed Daniel’s decision to fight and denounce corruption.
The former union leader asked to defend himself against the accusation and admitted discomfort at having to address the issue and share the debate with a “shameless” person, referring to Bolsonaro.
“This is not a presentation of proposals but a mutual attack to see who stole the most,” said Senator Simone Tebet.
During the debate, the fourth ranked in the polls sought to draw attention to the precariousness of Brazilian education, the children who go hungry and the fires in the Amazon, a question that was answered by Bolsonaro: “Then the lack of rain is my responsibility. “. ?”
The atmosphere of tension also returned when Father Kelmon (PTB), dubbed by candidate Soraya Thronicke as Bolsonaro’s “electoral corporal” and “father of the Festa Junina”, again accused Lula of being corrupt.
“I had 26 false complaints from a person who later became a minister in the current government,” Lula said, referring to Sérgio Moro, the judge who served as the basis for Lula da Silva’s conviction for corruption in the Operation Lava Jato cases.
However, these were finally annulled by the Federal Supreme Court (STF) due to the competence and recognition of Moro’s bias.
“I was acquitted in 26 cases within Brazil,” Lula said, concluding: “When you want to talk about corruption, look at someone else, don’t look at me.”
One question that remained unanswered was that of Soraya Thronicke, who asked Bolsonaro if he will respect the results of the elections and if he intends to stage a coup.
Bolsonaro, who aspires to be re-elected on October 2, has questioned the reliability of the electronic voting system that Brazil adopted almost three decades ago, when all the polls give his main rival, Lula da Silva, a chance to win in the first round. . .
The former Brazilian president could win the presidential elections in the first round, which will take place on Sunday, according to a survey released this Thursday by the datafolha institute.
Lula leads the race with 50% of the valid votes, that is, without counting the blank and invalid votes, a criterion used by the electoral authorities to count the result of the election, which keeps him with the possibility of winning as soon as on Sunday.
According to the survey, carried out between Tuesday and Thursday and which has a margin of error of two percentage points, Bolsonaro follows in second place with 36% of the valid votes.
Source: TSF
