Lula and Bolsonaro boycott debate ahead of Brazil election

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Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and opposition candidate Flavio Bolsonaro rejected a scheduled televised debate ahead of the first round of the presidential election, depriving 158 million voters of watching confrontation between them.

A debate organized by TV Globo, the country's most popular network, was scheduled for Thursday evening and provided the last chance for the leading candidates for the presidency to confront before the opening of polling stations after Tomorrow is Sunday.

The cancellation marks the first time in 20 years that Brazil's most prominent candidates have rejected any public confrontation. Other media organizations and business groups have been organizing debates with other candidates since 23 “Last August.

Lula said on Wednesday he would not attend the TV Globo debate that was due to feature Bolsonaro and two other candidates. Hours before the event began in Rio de Janeiro, Bolsonaro, the son of Former President Jair Bolsonaro, too.

The debate was canceled because two decisions, one from the country's electoral court and the other from Brazil's Supreme Court, caused “legal uncertainty” about the event, the network said in a statement.

The first resolution ordered TVGlobo to remove an empty seat that had been reserved for President Lula, who would have been the subject of questions from his rivals in attendance. The second decision forced the TV network to invite candidate Renan Santos, a critic of the president and the most prominent opposition candidate.

Analysts say Lula and Bolsonaro followed a strategy of avoiding face-to-face confrontations on stage ahead of the first round of voting.

They are likely to face it during the three weeks leading up to the run-off on October 25 if there is a run-off.