Brazil: last face-to-face Lula-Bolsonaro tense before the 2nd round

"This guy is the biggest liar in the history of Brazil", launched the left-wing ex-president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, 77, from the first minutes of the debate broadcast on TV Globo, the most watched channel from the country.

“Are we going to have to exorcise him so that he stops lying?” retorted the far-right head of state.

"He takes himself for the" little father of the poor ", added Mr. Bolsonaro, 67, before calling Lula a" bandit ".

"I am not here to respond (to the provocations) of my adversary, I have come to speak to the Brazilian people," said the icon of the left, calling the far-right president "unbalanced".

This debate is taking place on the home stretch of an often filthy campaign, full of dirty tricks and massive misinformation on social media.

- Football metaphor -

Lula slightly increased his lead in the latest survey by the benchmark institute Datafolha, published Thursday, with 53% of the voting intentions expressed, against 47% for the far-right president.

A gap of six points, which was only four points last week.

With this advantage, and if the polls are true, "Lula can be content to play for a draw, while Bolsonaro must win by several goals" during the debate this Friday, estimated political columnist Josias de Souza on the UOL news site, with a footballing metaphor that Brazilians love.

"The only thing that can turn the tide is the televised debate, 55% of voters say it's an important moment for their decision-making. The slightest slippage can be decisive for the final result," Felipe told AFP. Nunes, political scientist and director of the Quaest polling institute.

During the only other face-to-face between Lula and Bolsonaro, on October 16, on the Bandeirantes channel, the exchanges had been less aggressive than before. During the debates before the first round, bringing together other candidates, hateful remarks had flared up on both sides.

In the first round, on October 2, Lula came out on top with 48% of the vote, against 43% for Jair Bolsonaro.

But the far-right president's score turned out to be much higher than the polls predicted, giving him some momentum for the campaign between rounds.

- Two hiccups -

However, this momentum was slowed down by two major hiccups: unwelcome statements by the Minister of the Economy Paulo Guedes, indicating that the increase in the minimum wage could no longer be indexed to inflation, and the incredible arrest of a former - Bolsonarist deputy who injured police officers with grenades.

Feeling cornered, President Bolsonaro, who had muted his criticisms of the electronic ballot box system, found a new hobbyhorse this week: the denunciation of alleged irregularities in the broadcasting of electoral propaganda on the radio.

The Superior Electoral Court (TSE) rejected the request of the Head of State's campaign team, arguing that no evidence had been presented, which could constitute an "electoral offence" and an attempt to "destabilize of the second round".

According to experts, Mr. Bolsonaro prepares the ground to challenge the result in the event of defeat, fueling fears of violent incidents, like the invasion of the Capitol in Washington after the defeat of Donald Trump in the American presidential election, in January 2021.