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Brazil election: final debate cancelled ahead of Sunday's first round
Brazilians vote this Sunday in the first round of the Brazil election, which pits incumbent President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva against Flavio Bolsonaro, the son of former president Jair Bolsonaro. The campaign's final presidential debate was called off on Thursday after both candidates refused to take part.
By Haut Monde Post
• October 2, 2026
• 3 Min Read
Brazilians vote this Sunday in the first round of the Brazil election, which pits incumbent President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva against Flavio Bolsonaro, the son of former president Jair Bolsonaro. The campaign's final presidential debate was called off on Thursday after both candidates refused to take part.
Sunday's first round
The vote this Sunday is the first round of Brazil's two-round presidential election, and it brings down the curtain on a campaign described as bitter.
- •President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, the incumbent, faces Flavio Bolsonaro, the son of former president Jair Bolsonaro.
- •International observers have arrived in Brazil to monitor that the electoral process is correctly carried out.
Polls and the October 25 run-off
Jornal do Brasil has put polling at the centre of its election coverage. The paper highlights polls that predict a first-round win for Lula, while pointing as well to a tighter scenario: the October 25 run-off, it reports, could be neck and neck.
Final debate called off
O Globo, the paper due to host the final presidential debate, called the event off on Thursday after both Lula and Bolsonaro refused to take part. In an editorial explaining the cancellation, it set out what went wrong:
- •The Superior Electoral Court authorities declined to keep an empty chair for absent candidates — a practice the paper describes as a deep-seated tradition of campaign debates and part of the democratic process.
- •The line-up, it said, included a candidate from Lula's party who had not met the participation requirements.
- •Confronted with political interference and violations of the constitution and press freedom, O Globo says it had no option but to cancel the presidential debate.
How the papers are reading it
Brazilian newspapers have been giving the vote heavy coverage. The interest reaches beyond Brazil: L'Humanité, the French communist daily, is devoting its front page to the country. In Folha da Sao Paulo, one columnist argued that the Superior Electoral Court's meddling in the debate was the kind of thing once associated with banana republics.
With such brazenness would have been unthinkable not long ago, something associated with banana republics. Not anymore.
Brazilians vote in the first round this Sunday. Jornal do Brasil, for its part, reports that the October 25 run-off could be neck and neck.
