Cancelled debate turns into political battle between Lula and Flávio ahead of election

The cancellation of the presidential debate of the TV Globo, scheduled for Thursday night, widened the confrontation between the campaigns of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) and Flávio Bolsonaro (PL) in the final straight of the elections. The broadcaster suspended the meeting after court decisions modified Flavio's rules and resignation. Lula had already informed that he would not attend and participated in the Flow Podcast at the same time. The first round takes place this Sunday, October 4.

While allies of the president considered the outcome favorable to the campaign, Flavio criticized the judicial determinations and accused Lula of avoiding direct confrontation. Other presidential candidates and media outlets also reacted to the cancellation.

Why the Globe cancelled the debate

The suspension came after two decisions that interfered with the conditions foreseen for the program. Minister Estela Aranha, of the Superior Electoral Court (TSE), banned the display of an empty pulpit to represent Lula’s absence. The determination also prevented participants from addressing questions to the absent candidate. According to the rationale, this format could create an imbalance by allowing references to an opponent without the possibility of a simultaneous response in the debate.

Flavio announced his resignation after the disclosure of the decision. The candidate of the PL had even rehearsed questions he intended to ask at the pulpit reserved for the president. Shortly after, the minister Gilmar Mendes, of Supremo Tribunal Federal (STF), determined the inclusion of Renan Santos, candidate of the Mission party, among the participants.

Read also: TSE prohibits Globe from displaying empty chair of Lula in debate

Globo reported that the determinations received at the last minute changed rules previously agreed with the campaigns and caused legal insecurity. With the changes and absences, the station decided to cancel the meeting.

Lula defends interview at Flow

Lula kept participating in the Flow Podcast, presented by Igor Coelho. During the interview, he joked about his preference for the presenter when explaining the choice not to attend the Globo.

The president said he considers the debates unproductive and criticized the space destined for provocations and interventions aimed at the repercussion on social networks. In his assessment, the meetings should focus on the needs of the population, the future of the country and Brazilian sovereignty.

Lula also questioned the model that brings together candidates with very different levels of support in research. Using a comparison with the football divisions, he suggested a selection of the participants according to the electoral performance.

In presenting the argument, he mentioned as an example a dispute between someone with 49% and another with 1%. The numbers were used by the president in defending his proposal for the format of the debates.

Flávio accuses censorship and cobra confrontation

After quitting the show, Flávio Bolsonaro conducted a live broadcast and stated that the decision on the empty pulpit represented censorship. The candidate accused Lula of resorting to close people in the judiciary to interfere in the meeting, without identifying the allegedly involved.

Flavio also said he had called the president to debate on more than one occasion and again charged for a direct confrontation. During the broadcast, he described the episode as revolting and asked voters to go to the polls on Sunday.

The accusations of favoritism were made by the candidate of the PL. The material presented does not provide proof of articulation between Lula and the ministers responsible for the decisions.

The broadcast brought together Pablo Marçal, Nikolas Ferreira (PL-MG), Carlos Bolsonaro (PL-SC), Tereza Cristina and Deltan Dallagnol (Novo-PR).

Carlos Bolsonaro, Flavio's brother and Senate candidate for Santa Catarina, criticized what he called STF's interference in the election. Eduardo Bolsonaro, who lives in the Estados Unidos, also attacked Lula on social networks for the interview at the time the debate was scheduled.

Petista campaign celebrates repercussions

Allies of Lula considered that Flavio’s resignation and cancellation reinforced the correctness of the choice for Flow. The digital audience of the interview was also celebrated by the campaign.

The minister of the General Secretariat of the Presidency, Guilherme Boulos, ironized the absence of Flavio in a publication on X, suggesting that even the opponent wanted to follow Lula on the podcast.

The Minister of Relações Institucionais, José Guimarães, shared excerpts from the interview and highlighted its repercussion on digital platforms.

The interview exceeded 1.6 million viewers, while the broadcast of Flavio had not reached 600,000 in the cut quoted. The text does not specify the time of the measurement or the methodology of this comparison.

The petist campaign was already working with the possibility of a withdrawal of Flavio, especially in the face of the eventual participation of Renan Santos, who has been criticizing the candidate of the PL.

Renan had already provoked the two opponents

Although in the right field, Renan Santos maintains a confrontational posture with Flávio Bolsonaro.

In the debate of the Band held on August 23, to which Lula and Flavio also did not attend, the candidate of the Mission displayed two disposable diapers with the names of the opponents.

After obtaining judicial authorization to participate in the meeting of Globo, Renan did not enter the station and invited Flavio to debate in a bar.

Other presidential candidates criticize suspension

The cancellation was also criticized by the other candidates. Romeu Zema (New) stated that the suspension represented a loss for democracy.

Ronaldo Caiado (PSD) blamed Lula for the episode and described the outcome as an attack on democracy. Augusto Cury (Avante) criticized both the president and Flavio for his absence.

The demonstrations took place at the end of the campaign for the first round, when the candidates sought to present their last arguments to the voters.

The press disputes decisions

The Brazilian Association of Radio and Television Broadcasters (Abert), the National Association of Newspapers (ANJ) and the National Association of Magazine Editors (Aner) released a joint note in reaction to the judicial measures.

The bodies classified the decisions as an assault on press freedom and said the changes hindered citizens’ access to the proposals of the candidates invited to the debate.