Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Senator Flávio Bolsonaro traded corruption accusations and personal attacks in their first televised debate a week before the October 25 presidential runoff, with voters and commentators saying both candidates offered few concrete proposals.
The roughly two-hour debate went on air on the evening of October 18, hosted by broadcaster Band in partnership with Estadão, TV Gazeta, TV Cultura and Jovem Pan. It was the first face-to-face meeting between the two candidates, both of whom skipped the debates before the first round of voting.
Bolsonaro, the son of convicted former president Jair Bolsonaro, won the first round on October 4 with 47% of valid votes against Lula's 45%. Earlier surveys gave the right-wing candidate a wide advantage, but more recent polls point to a tight race. Lula, 80, is seeking a fourth nonconsecutive term.
The exchanges were heated and at times inaudible, with the candidates' relatives often becoming a topic of discussion. Folha said frequent screams and interruptions from the audience also marked the event.
Lula spent much of the first segment pressing his rival over the BRL134mn ($26.5mn) financing, of which $12mn was effectively transferred, that Bolsonaro asked for from disgraced banker Daniel Vorcaro, owner of the defunct Banco Master, to fund a film about his father.
"How can someone take BRL134mn and not say where it went?" Lula asked. Bolsonaro initially sidestepped the question but later said the money had gone to the film. "I've explained it several times, and I'll explain it again, when necessary," he said.
He also said Vorcaro mentions in an audio recording BRL30mn allegedly paid off the books to the Lula Institute, Folha reported.
The tensest moment came when Lula challenged his opponent to have both candidates open their personal finances to scrutiny before the vote. Valor described the proposal as covering both men's bank and telephone records.
It added the offer came only 15 minutes before the end of the debate and could have cut short an unproductive opening segment.
Bolsonaro argued that the economy would improve simply by removing Lula from office and fighting corruption, while the seasoned leftist president defended his record and his welfare programmes.
Bolsonaro repeatedly brought up lobbyist Roberta Luchsinger, which Valor said helped him avoid a direct comparison between Lula's government and his father's.
Most of the ten columnists polled by O Globo said Bolsonaro performed slightly better. They gave him an average score of 2.3 on a scale of 1 to 5, against 2.2 for Lula. Several columnists said the senator avoided answering most questions, while others said Lula appeared nervous and missed chances to put his rival on the defensive.
A qualitative study led by political scientist Renato Dorgan, quoted by Estadão, reached a similar verdict on the overall quality of the debate. Participants included deciding and undecided voters, and they used coloured cards to react in real time and described the debate as "disappointing", "shameful" and "a joke".
"I didn't like the debate. They could have discussed relevant issues, but they didn't want to," said one undecided voter who is considering casting a blank ballot, according to Estadão.
Even so, Lula fared better in the group's ratings: 44.79% of his ratings were positive, against 39.06% for Bolsonaro. Negative ratings made up 35.42% of Lula's total and 46.88% of his rival's.
"Lula did well in his approach to social policies; he speaks with conviction on the subject," Dorgan said, adding that Bolsonaro "pleased with an incisive speech on security", while the senator's healthcare pledge sounded unconvincing.
Valor said Lula had his strongest moments on public health and the end of the six-day working week. When defending his economic record, the president pointed to the surplus achieved during his administration and criticised the model used to privatise state-run power utility Eletrobras.
The newspaper also said Lula made a misstep by calling Bolsonaro a "Rio de Janeiro hustler" at a time when he needs votes in Rio de Janeiro state, where he lost in the first round.
The winner will take the reins of Latin America's largest economy, with a population of 214mn. A Bolsonaro victory would boost already growing US influence in the region, given his strong alliance with President Donald Trump.
A Lula win would likely mean Brazil keeps a strategic distance from Washington while deepening ties with China.
Tens of thousands of supporters of both candidates took to the streets in Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and other cities on October 18. Many Bolsonaro backers on Sao Paulo's Paulista Avenue called for the release of Jair Bolsonaro, who is serving a 27-year prison sentence for a coup attempt following his 2022 election defeat to Lula.
Also on October 18, Brazil's federal police asked the Supreme Court to open an investigation into Flávio Bolsonaro over a money laundering accusation involving a lawyer close to him. The senator is already under investigation over his links to Vorcaro. He denies wrongdoing in both cases.
A second debate is scheduled for October 23 on TV Globo.