The presidential debates in Brazil, in the air waiting for Lula and Jair Bolsonaro

Debates are in the air between the presidential candidates for the October elections in Brazil, waiting for the two big favorites, former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and the current president, Jair Bolsonaro, define their own positions in this regard.

Lula, who made his debut as the absolute leader in voting intentions, according to all polls, proposed this Wednesday to limit the debates to three and in “pool” format, ie organized jointly by the media concerned.

The progressive candidate declared in an interview with UOL that he “loves” debates, but that can’t be “hostage” one of them because he needs to “travel to Brazil” to complete his campaign, which officially begins on August 16.

“I like debates, be it in the first or second round, but we have to rethink the issue of numbers” because “I have to travel a lot, I want to travel through the 27 states of the country and hug and feel people,” he insisted.

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And he added: “When we have an answer, I’ll be ready for discussions.”

Bolsonaro also left open the possibility of participating with the rest of the candidates in televised debates, which are a tradition in Brazil since 1989, in the act of launching his candidacy for the Liberal Party (PL), last Sunday in Rio de Janeiro.

“I wouldn’t have an adjective here to describe him (Lula) right now. Who knows in a debate, in case he is present,” the far-right leader said during his speech.

For Lula, this change of position of her political antagonist it is due to the president’s fear to lose the elections in the first round, as already predicted by several polls.

In this context, the lack of definition of both Lula and Bolsonaro caused the CNN Brasil network cancel the presidential debate which was to air on August 6.

September, key month

Along the same lines, Jovem Pan and TV Bandeirantes have given up and suspended the debates that would have taken place on 9 and 14 August respectively.

This agenda of debates intensifies even more in September, with the celebration of another 7 only during that month.

Labor candidate Ciro Gomes, third favorite in the polls, criticized the attitude of his two biggest opponents on his social networks.

“I want to argue. Bolsonaro and Lula, no. Is it the silence of the lambs? No, it is the silence of the guilty, “she said.

However, the absence of favored candidates in the debates is not new in Brazil.

Lula himself lost those held before the first round of the 2006 electionsin which he was re-elected.

His predecessor in office, Fernando Henrique Cardoso, also did not participate in those organized in the 1998 campaign, which he won in the first round, thus renewing his term for another 4 years.

For his part, Bolsonaro it was just a couple in the 2018 campaign and then he justified his absence in the rest with the stab he received from a mentally ill during an electoral act.

EFE agency

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