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Brazilians watch Jair Bolsonaro's TV duel
Photo: Matias Delacroix/AP
With polemical attacks on his challenger Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Brazil's right-wing head of state Jair Bolsonaro denied the TV duel a few days before the presidential election.
The 67-year-old insulted Lula in front of an audience of millions on Thursday as a "liar", "ex-prisoner" and "traitor to the fatherland" and made no secret of his personal dislike of the left-wing ex-president.
Bolsonaro also accused him of leading a gang of "thieves" during his tenure and referred to the corruption scandal surrounding the state oil company Petrobras.
Lula spent a total of 18 months in prison over the scandal in 2018 and 2019, but his sentences were overturned by Brazil's Supreme Court on formal grounds.
"How can you look in the mirror"
"The people will send you home on October 2," replied Lula, who is well ahead of the incumbent in the polls.
He also accused Bolsonaro of being a “liar”.
"How can you look in the mirror when you see what happened under your administration?" Lula asked.
He referred to a scandal in the Ministry of Education and the allegations against Bolsonaro's eldest son, who is suspected of embezzling funds.
Ahead of the first round of the presidential election on Sunday, Lula is well ahead of Bolsonaro in the polls.
In a survey by the Datafolha institute, 48 percent of the votes went to the challenger, while the incumbent only got 34 percent.
If Lula gets more than 50 percent of the votes on Sunday, he would be elected Brazil's head of state in the first round.
If none of the candidates receive this majority, the two best-placed candidates will compete against each other in a runoff on October 30th.
The left-wing politician Lula ruled Brazil from 2003 to 2010. His controversial arrest knocked him out in the presidential race in 2018, and Bolsonaro came to power.
During the four years of his tenure, the right-wing president polarized like no other head of state before him in Brazil.
His followers like his radical style, his attacks on the political establishment and his appearances in online media.
His critics accuse Bolsonaro of having little to show other than hateful slogans, mismanagement of the corona pandemic and a devastating environmental record.
More than 156 million Brazilians are called on Sunday to elect a new president, members of parliament, governors and senators.
Voting is done electronically.
mfh/AFP