“Monster, genocide”: the former president of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva attacked President Jair Bolsonaro, while both sharpen their weapons for the tough duel that awaits them in the second round of the presidential elections, on December 30. October.

The president was no exception: screaming, sweating and insulting, Bolsonaro broke the serenity recommended by his advisers and called his rival “drunk”, as well as accusing the president of the Higher Electoral Court, Alexandre de Moraes, who is investigating of him in a case of crimes against the democratic system.

The leader of the Workers’ Party declared himself this Friday Against abortionduring an electoral campaign outside Sao Paulo, in a strong message to seduce the decisive evangelical vote.

Also, he launched very harsh accusations against the current far-right president, who claimed that Lula won the first round in the north-east of the country because a large part of the population is “illiterate”.

Bolsonaro, in turn, has once again raised suspicions in polls of voting intentions, which show Lula winning the ballot, and said they are “jokes”.

“Woman’s decision”

“I am against abortion. I am the father of five children, the grandfather of eight grandchildren, the great-grandfather of a great-granddaughter. After all, the one who decides whether to abort or not is the woman, who is the one who says whether she wants to or not” , assured Lula during her walk.

“The law exists, the law determines how abortion can take place, this is not the role of the President of the Republic, this is the role of the Legislative Power”, he remarked, despite the fact that the PT he leads has defended legislation that broadens the right. upon termination of pregnancy.

The center-left candidate, who last Sunday won in the first round with 48.43% of the votes, against Bolsonaro’s 43.20%, seems to have changed the subject of abortion, in an electoral strategy for improve his approval in the crucial evangelical electorate where he runs at a disadvantage against Bolsonaro, of the Liberal Party (PL).

The former president took a walking tour this Friday through downtown Guarulhos, a municipality in Greater Sao Paulo, where he also criticized Bolsonaro for his policy against the coronavirus pandemic.

“This country cannot vote for a person who has not cried for the 680,000 people who died of Covid, could have saved 400,000 lives, delayed the purchase of vaccines, that’s why he must be removed” by the government, Lula said.

“illiterate”

At the same time, Lula harshly attacked Bolsonaro for linking illiteracy to voting for leftist forces.

The former president referred to a statement from Bolsonaro this week, in which the head of state highlighted that his political opponent was the most voted candidate in “nine of the ten states with the highest illiteracy rates,” all located in the north-east from Paese.

“Yesterday the genocide released a statement (saying) that the people of the Northeast vote for me because they are illiterate,” Lula told Guarulhos.

This region, the most industrialized in the country, was the destination of millions of people who left the north-east of Brazil fleeing poverty, in a particularly intense migration between the 1950s and 1970s.

Lula himself, who emigrated from the north-east to São Paulo as a child, said he was “proud” of his origins.

“Illiterates are not illiterate because of their responsibility, but because this country has never had a government that cares about education” like yours (2003-2010), said Lula, who has forged himself as a trade union leader in the area. of San Paolo in the 70s.

“It was an almost illiterate metallurgist who brought the university here,” he added, underlining his policies to increase access to university education.

Lula asked “who has a drop of northeastern blood” Don’t vote for “that denier, monster, who runs this country”.

Instead, Bolsonaro on Thursday said the northeast has worse educational and economic indicators “because they have been administered for two decades” by the PT, a false claim.

The northeastern region of Brazil is divided into nine states and none of them have been under PT control for the past 20 years. Currently, there are only three Regional Officers controlled by Lula’s party in the entire Northeast.

Poverty and illiteracy are central problems in this eminently rural region, far from large urban centers and punished for lack of investment.

In those states the vote for the Social Democratic leader exceeded 60%, while Bolsonaro was the most voted in the south and south-east of Brazil, the richest regions, as well as in the thriving rural areas of the center and west of the Village.

The President’s Counterattack

Meanwhile, Bolsonaro has abandoned the friendly tone of the past few days and has returned to the usual incendiary tone.

At a press conference at Alvorada Palace, Brasilia’s presidential residence, Bolsonaro appeared in his shirt, sweating, and yelled at Lula and Judge Moraes.

“If you put a drunk on cachaça (a traditional brandy) to lead Brazil, a boy without responsibility, who has a history of corruption, who despises the Brazilian family, who attacks priests, pastors, the armed forces, the police. will he be successful? He will put Dilma Rousseff as Minister of Energy! “

In a fight that is expected to be aggressive between now and Sunday 30, Bolsonaro has again attacked the polls on voting intentions, after the first was published Wednesday after last Sunday’s elections.

new survey

“We are seeing that the polls have started again”, the president said Wednesday evening, after the Ipec agency published the first poll ahead of the second round.

According to that poll, Lula would have 55% of the valid votes versus Bolsonaro’s 45%.

Another poll released Friday by Datafolha gave Lula a 49% voting intention, compared to Bolsonaro’s 44%.

But if the people who declare to vote blank or null are taken for granted Lula reaches 53% and Bolsonaro 47%, which would give the PT leader a clear victory.

But pollsters face harsh criticism for anticipating a much greater first-round advantage than Lula actually got.

The president’s lawyers denounced public opinion companies before the Higher Electoral Court, while the ruling party presented a bill classifying the errors of opinion polling companies as a “crime”.