On the evening of October 18th local time, Brazil’s current president and Labour Party candidate Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva held a television debate in São Paulo with Flavio Bolsonaro, the son of former president Jair Bolsonaro, and candidate for the Freedom Party.
This was the first face-to-face encounter between two presidential candidates before the second round of voting.
According to CNN Brasil, during the debate, Flavio Bolsonaro questioned Lula about why he was supported by a group of prisoners. Lula then turned the conversation to Jair Bolsonaro, who is serving time in prison. He sarcastically said that Jair Bolsonaro could also vote for himself, because he knew he was better than his son.
According to reports, during discussions on public safety issues, Flavio Bolsonaro accused the Lula government of failing to effectively combat crime, and questioned why Lula received support from a large number of prisoners.
"During your tenure as Prime Minister, Brazil's crime rate has rapidly worsened. Additionally, can you explain why 73% of prisoners voted for you?" Flavio Bolsonaro asked.
Lula did not respond directly, but counterattacked by saying, 'I hope they will vote for me 100%, including your father.'
"Your father can vote for me. He knows you and he knows I'm better than you." Lu La said.
Fra Violo Bosonaro said that his father was subjected to "political persecution" and has lost the right to vote. "He can't even vote for me."
Lula continued to mock him, directly addressing Jair Bolsonaro through the camera: "Bolsonaro, vote for me! You know your own son, you know I'm better than him."
Flavio Bosonaro then attacked Lula again, claiming that Lula had received votes from criminals such as rapists and robbers, and accused Lula of representing the interests of these people.
It is worth mentioning that Flavio Bolsonaro claimed during the debate that “73% of prisoners voted for Lula”, but he did not provide any source for this figure, and the claim has not been confirmed.
In Brazil, incarcerated individuals who have not yet been finally convicted have the right to vote. However, the political rights of sentenced prisoners whose judgments have taken effect will be suspended.
Yair Brosso-Nero was sentenced to 27 years and 3 months in prison for planning a coup. He is currently serving his sentence at home, therefore he is not eligible to vote in this presidential election.
In the first round of voting for the 2026 Brazilian presidential elections, the votes were cast on October 4. Freedom Party candidate Flavio Bolsonaro came out on top with about 47% of the votes, while Luiz Inacio Lula Jr. received around 45% of the votes and ranked second. Since no candidate received more than half of the valid votes in the first round, a second round of voting will be held on October 25.
According to a latest survey conducted by the Brazilian polling agency Nexus/BTG on October 19th, among the valid votes, Flavio Bolsonaro had a support rate of 50.3%, while Lula had a support rate of 49.7%. The difference between the two is only 0.6 percentage points, which is within the statistical error range. Compared with the survey conducted a week earlier, Flavio Bolsonaro's support rate has decreased, while Lula's has increased.
