// BBC WORLD NEWS — MONDO
Personal attacks fire up debate before Brazil's run-off vote
Flávio Bolsonaro and Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva are competing for the presidency in a run-off election due on Sunday
Brazil's left-wing President, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, and his right-wing rival, Senator Flávio Bolsonaro, have clashed in a debate held one week before the run-off presidential election.
Polls suggest the two candidates are neck and neck and the televised debate was hailed as a chance for both to sway undecided voters.
But the showdown was marked by personal attacks and analysts have warned that its aggressive tone may increase the abstention rate further.
In the first round of voting, held on 4 October, Bolsonaro defied opinion polls by securing a narrow lead over Lula.
Sunday's debate was the first of two before the vote. The second is planned for Friday, just two days before polls open.
Flávio Bolsonaro is standing for the Liberal Party after his father, Jair Bolsonaro - who governed from 2018 to 2022 - was sentenced to more than 20 years in prison for plotting to overthrow Lula after the latter beat him in the 2022 election.
The younger Bolsonaro won 47% of the vote in the first round, compared with Lula's 45.2%, with both falling short of the 50% of the valid votes needed to stave off a decisive second round.
Since the return to democracy in 1988, there has been no instance in which the candidate who lost in the first round went on to win in the second but Lula has told his supporters that he will "win in extra time".
Analysts consulted by BBC News Brasil were struck by how much the debate was dominated not by issues but personal attacks.