Lula and Bolsonaro Face First Debate Before Presidential Runoff

President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Senator Flavio Bolsonaro will hold their first televised debate on Sunday evening, one week before Brazil's presidential runoff on October 25. Recent polling shows Bolsonaro holding a slight lead with 51 percent of the vote compared to 49 percent for Lula.

The candidates maintain sharp ideological differences. Bolsonaro is campaigning on a tough-on-crime platform, while Lula has proposed worker-friendly measures, including a constitutional amendment to guarantee two days of paid rest per week.

The campaign has shifted toward allegations of digital interference. Lula accused Meta of restricting his content to provide an unfair advantage to Bolsonaro, leading his coalition to request probes from police and electoral prosecutors. Meta denied any political bias, attributing the content issues to technical glitches. Supporters of both candidates have held large-scale mobilization rallies in Brasilia, Sao Paulo, and Rio de Janeiro.