Lula and Bolsonaro Partake in First Electoral Debate in Brazil

Former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and President Jair Bolsonaro, the two candidates leading all opinion polls for the upcoming elections in Brazil, will participate today in a first television debate.

RELATED:

Anvisa Approves Monkeypox Vaccine and Drug for Use in Brazil

According to analysts, both politicians have made the election the most polarized in the country's recent history.

Lula, candidate of the Workers' Party (PT), confirmed his attendance to the debate in a post on the social network Twitter.

"See you at Band (Bandeirantes Network) tomorrow, 9 p.m. (21:00, local time)," he wrote on that platform.

Bolsonaro's campaign coordination also confirmed the presence in the discussion of the Liberal Party's candidate for reelection.

On Friday, in an interview with the commercial radio and television network Jovem Pan, the former Army captain indicated that he resigned to attend the debate, but then changed his mind.

"I must be there on Sunday. I'm not banging the gavel. At the moment, I thought I shouldn't go, now I think I should go," he reasoned.

According to a latest Datafolha Institute poll published on August 18, the former union leader leads the race for the Planalto Palace (seat of the Executive Branch) with 47 percent of the voting intention against 32 of the ultra-right-leaning ruler.

In addition to the favorite aspirants to power, other candidates are expected to gather, such as former minister Ciro Gomes and lawyer Simone Tebet, third (seven percent) and fourth (two), respectively, in the polls.

The organizers informed that during three hours the candidates will answer questions from the moderators and a group of journalists.

Organized by TV Bandeirantes in partnership with the portal UOL, the newspaper Folha de Sao Paulo and TV Cultura, the confrontation will place face to face two standard bearers of opposite ideologies (left and right).