Personal attacks fire up debate before Brazil's run-off vote

Flávio Bolsonaro and Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva are competing for the presidency in a run-off election due on Sunday

Brazil's left-wing President, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, and his right-wing rival, Senator Flávio Bolsonaro, have clashed in a debate held one week before the run-off presidential election.

Polls suggest the two candidates are neck and neck and the televised debate was hailed as a chance for both to sway undecided voters.

But the showdown was marked by personal attacks and analysts have warned that its aggressive tone may increase the abstention rate further.

In the first round of voting, held on 4 October, Bolsonaro defied opinion polls by securing a narrow lead over Lula.

Sunday's debate was the first of two before the vote. The second is planned for Friday, just two days before polls open.

Flávio Bolsonaro is standing for the Liberal Party after his father, Jair Bolsonaro - who governed from 2018 to 2022 - was sentenced to more than 20 years in prison for plotting to overthrow Lula after the latter beat him in the 2022 election.

The younger Bolsonaro won 47% of the vote in the first round, compared with Lula's 45.2%, with both falling short of the 50% of the valid votes needed to stave off a decisive second round.

Since the return to democracy in 1988, there has been no instance in which the candidate who lost in the first round went on to win in the second but Lula has told his supporters that he will "win in extra time".

Analysts consulted by BBC News Brasil were struck by how much the debate was dominated not by issues but personal attacks.

Yuri Sanches from pollsters AtlasIntel said it was a debate in which no policies were discussed and there were no rational arguments.

"The independent voter, who is sometimes against Bolsonaro and sometimes against the Workers' Party [of Lula], came out of it with a very negative impression."

Lucas Aragão from political analysis firm Arko Advice said Bolsonaro had appeared calmer during the debate and seemed to have managed to "get under Lula's skin".

Rafael Cortez from consulting firm da Tendências Consultoria, however, argued that Lula had managed to score a goal when he said he would open up his financial and phone records and those of his family to judicial scrutiny, and challenged his rival to do the same before Sunday's run-off.

Many observers criticised the format of the debate, which was described as chaotic at times, with each of the candidates pacing around the TV studio as the other was speaking.

One heated exchange saw Bolsonaro telling Lula he should come stand next to him so that the two could talk.

Referring to alleged links between the senator and paramilitary vigilante groups, Lula said "I don't want to be close to you", and that he wanted to maintain "distance from the Bolsonaro family" and "the militia".

Bolsonaro, who has dismissed the allegations as fake news, in turn tried to bait Lula by saying, "On second thoughts, maybe it's better to keep my distance so that my wallet isn't stolen."

He also accused the Workers' Party of being corrupt, holding up the palm of his hand on which he had scribbled "CORRUPTO" (Portuguese for "corrupt).

Bolsonaro had highlighted the initials for the Workers' Party on his hand

"Take a piece of paper and a pen and jot down 'corrupt' and you'll see that it has two letters in the middle here together," he said, pointing to PT, the initials of the Workers' Party in Portuguese.

Bolsonaro, who is campaigning on a iron-fist approach to crime, challenged Lula to explain why crime rates had gone up during his four years in power.

He also alleged, without providing any evidence, that "the majority of convicts vote for Lula".

Lula shot back with a thinly veiled reference to Flávio's convicted father, Jair, saying; "I wish it was 100%, even your father".

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