Electoral debates in Brazil: instrument of strategy, not clarification

Everyone has always said that debates are an instrument of voter enlightenment and an essential tool of the democratic system. It's not quite like that, and all of us – journalists, political analysts, owners of media outlets and institutions that guarantee the foundations of the Republic, such as the STF and the TSE – know this.

The truth is that, since 1989, the year of the first presidential election after 21 years of military dictatorship, we have been aware that electoral debates are above all part of the weapons used as candidates' electoral strategy.

The following historical summary is well known, but it is worth remembering.

In 1989, Collor did not attend any of the six meetings before the first round and was scandalously helped by Globo in the second debate he participated in, days before the election, both in the preparation for the event and in the edition shown by the broadcaster.

Fernando Henrique Cardoso attended only one of the three debates held in 1994, giving up the others after taking the lead in the polls. He won the election in the first round. In 1998, FHC did not participate in debates and, again, won the election in the first round.

Favorite in 2002, Lula participated in two debates in the first round and agreed to debate just once with José Serra in the second round, giving up two other invitations to similar events.

In 2006, with a gap in the polls, Lula did not attend three debates in the first round. On Globo, the empty chair of the candidate for re-election was displayed during the meeting. Lula debated with Alckmin in the second round on Band and Globo.

In 2010, possibly seeking to make her image better known, Dilma Rousseff participated in six debates in the first round and four in the second. In 2014, again, Dilma appeared extensively in debates – five in the first round, four in the second.

Jair Bolsonaro, in 2018, participated in two debates in the first round. After the stab wound he suffered on September 6, he no longer participated in any of them. Favorite in the second round polls, he canceled his participation in the Globo debate and gave, at the same time, an interview with Record. At the time, the campaigns of Fernando Haddad, Henrique Meirelles and Guilherme Boulos unsuccessfully contacted the TSE, asking that the interview not be aired.

In 2022, in the very fierce dispute between Lula and Bolsonaro, the two candidates encouraged the holding of pool debates in the first round – there were only three. In the second round, with advantages in the polls, Lula did not participate in two of the four organized debates; Bolsonaro was in all of them.

What happened in 2026 is not much different from the scenario summarized above. Candidate for re-election, faced by five opposition candidates on the right and extreme right spectrum, Lula saw no advantage in participating in debates and did not go to any. Flávio Bolsonaro (PL) was also not there.

By giving up participating in the Globo debate, on the night of October 1st, Flávio missed the opportunity to speak at a prime-time event on the largest broadcaster in the country. The PL candidate withdrew a few hours before the start of the event on the grounds that the courts had imposed restrictions on the debate. And Flávio's withdrawal served as a pretext for Globo to cancel the event.

Minister Gilmar Mendes' decision to demand that Globo invite Renan Santos (Missão) can be questioned, but I don't think it was the reason that led Flávio to give up. Several political analysts, from right to left, stated that he feared confrontation with Santos in the debate.