Lula, Bolsonaro clash on living costs, corruption in final Brazil election debate

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and right-winger Flavio Bolsonaro held a final, more diplomatic debate on Friday, although neither held back with cutting remarks two days before the election.

Polls project a tie between the ideologically opposed pair in Sunday's runoff after Flavio Bolsonaro, the son of far-right former president Jair Bolsonaro, took the lead in the first-round vote.

Their first debate was loaded with insults and practically empty of concrete policy proposals, but the candidates this time questioned each other on Brazil's economy, infrastructure and regional development.

There was also a flurry of quips and jibes, with Lula attacking the 45-year-old senator's lack of experience while Bolsonaro accused the president of leaving behind a "broken country".

"He doesn't know what hunger is," Brazil's first working-class president said of Bolsonaro, who asked the incumbent: "Why are things so expensive?"

The election outcome could see Latin America's largest country join a regional shift to the right championed by US President Donald Trump, or remain a left-wing stronghold.

A Datafolha institute survey published on Thursday showed the pair tied with 50 percent of voting intentions each, compared to Bolsonaro's four-point lead in polls published two weeks ago.

'Google' it

Lula, 80, repeatedly asked viewers to 'Google' Bolsonaro's claims, to which the senator shot back: "Who governs Brazil, you or Google?"

The right-wing candidate mocked Lula over the finger he lost in an accident as a metalworker when he was young.

"It's no use, Lula, giving with one hand and taking away with your nine fingers."

"I will not allow a militiaman to call me 'nine fingers,'" Lula replied, referring to allegations that his rival has ties to paramilitary groups in Rio de Janeiro.

Bolsonaro apologized, but not without asking Lula to "apologize to the Brazilian people who suffer from insecurity."

Lula challenged his rival's plan to take a "chainsaw" to public spending in the style of Argentina's ultra-liberal leader Javier Milei.

"I'll have the same job here because you're leaving the country bankrupt," Bolsonaro replied. "Aren't you ashamed?"

Fiercer exchanges overshadowed the first debate five days ago, leaving voters more confused than ever.

"The debates have once again descended to a fifth-grade level, which is absurd," dentist and Bolsonaro voter Lizie Moreira, 60, told AFP.

'Attacks and provocations'

Bolsonaro has promised to resolve Brazil's crime woes, create 500,000 more spots in prisons and slash government spending.

"Lula wants to talk about proposals, unlike Bolsonaro, who prefers attacks and provocations," Social Communications Minister Sidonio Palmeira said ahead of Friday's program.

Brazil's current president "represents everything that I am," Gabriela Ferreira, 22, said at a leftist demonstration in the southeastern city of Belo Horizonte.

"I am poor. I am a student. I depend on a scholarship to do my degree."

Lula, a former union leader, presents himself as a defender of democracy and is largely counting on opposition to the Bolsonaro family's return to power.

Jair Bolsonaro is serving a 27-year sentence for attempting a coup after his 2022 defeat by Lula.

Election interference?

Legal disputes have dominated the bitter election campaign.

Both candidates went to court this week to demand their opponent be disqualified over social media abuses.

Lula's campaign has accused tech giant Meta of "interference" in favor of Flavio Bolsonaro via alleged "algorithmic manipulation".

Meta has denied doing anything to favor one side, but acknowledged that some of Lula's campaign ads had been mistakenly deactivated due to technical errors.

An electoral court gave Meta and X 24 hours on Thursday to explain their criteria for distributing political content and advertisements, as well as how they employ artificial intelligence.

Lula's team is concerned about "the obvious alignment between Meta and the US government," Joao Brant, his campaign's digital strategy advisor, told AFP.

Bolsonaro's campaign accused Lula's camp on Friday of "using public resources and digital structures to interfere" in the election.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP)