The Brazilian senator and presidential candidate Flávio Bolsonaro called the president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva for “running away” from the debates and appealed to the useful vote to “resolve” Sunday’s presidential dispute in the first round.
The first-born son of former president Jair Bolsonaro spoke out this Thursday night in a live broadcast on his social networks, after giving up participating in the presidential debate organized by TV Globo, which was later cancelled.
Three days before the elections, Bolsonaro He urged voters to concentrate their support on his candidacy as the only alternative capable of defeating the current president. and candidate for re-election, Lula da Silva.
“We are going to cast an intelligent vote this Sunday, with all due respect to the other competitors in the presidential dispute. Only Flávio Bolsonaro is in a position to defeat Lula already in the first round, to begin fixing this country starting next Monday,” he expressed.
Lula and Flávio concentrate approximately 85% of voting intentions for this Sunday’s elections, according to polls.
During his speech, which began at the time the debate was scheduled to begin, Bolsonaro denounced that the resolutions of the Electoral Justice, which prevented the president from being displayed at the president’s empty lectern and questions being asked, constitute an act of “censorship at its highest degree.”
He argued that Lula, whom he described as a “coward” for not attending any debate, used his “allies” in the judicial field to shield himself from criticism and avoid confrontation with other candidates, affecting the balance of the race and restricting freedom of the press.
Among his main measures, the candidate of the Liberal Party (PL) highlighted that he will appoint “decent” judges to the Supreme Court, “who are not servants of Lula”, but “who make decisions in accordance with the law” and “the Constitution.”
The last presidential debate before Sunday’s elections, organized by TV Globo, the most influential and highest-rated network in Brazil, It was unexpectedly canceled just an hour after its broadcast.
The meeting between the candidates was awaited with great expectations in the country since it was going to be the first with the presence of Bolsonaro. Lula had already confirmed his non-appearance the day before and counter-programmed with a podcast interview.
The debacle of the event was triggered by the decision of a judge of the Superior Electoral Court, which ruled in favor of a request from the president’s campaign and prohibited showing his empty platform or allowing the other candidates to ask him questionsalleging a “potential imbalance” between the applicants.
TV Globo planned to display Lula’s empty lectern during the broadcast, a common resource at this type of event.
Given the last-minute decision, Bolsonaro announced his absence two hours before the start.
