RIO DE JANEIRO, Oct. 26 (Xinhua) -- Brazil's two presidential candidates will meet one last time before the election on Oct. 29, in a live debate to be broadcast by the country's largest TV network Globo on Friday night.
According to the latest polls, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, from the Workers Party (PT), has been widening his lead over former Sao Paulo state governor Geraldo Alckmin, from the Brazilian Social Democracy Party (PSDB).
The debate is seen as Alckmin's last opportunity to turn the table on President Lula, who did not show up at the last TV debate that took place before the first election round on Oct. 1.
According to analysts, Lula's absence at the debate was not well-seen by Brazilian voters and could have led to the below 50 percent of votes, which he got in the first round, forcing him to compete in a two-horse second round.
Since then, the incumbent candidate and his opponent have participated in debates on three other open TV channels, but the debate on Globo is expected to have a greater impact on voters, as the network traditionally has more than half of the country's audience.
The research institute Vox Populi released on Thursday a survey showing that the president was holding on to his 22-percentage-point lead, the same registered in the institute's previous poll. According to the survey, Lula has 61 percent of the valid votes, and Alckmin has 39 percent.
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Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, candidate for re-election, speaks to journalists after voting in the general elections in Sao Bernardo do Campo on the outskirts of Sao Paulo, Oct. 1, 2006. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)
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With almost 90 percent of the ballots counted, Lula garnered 49.28 percent of the votes, while his opponent, former Sao Paulo Governor Geraldo Alckmin, got 40.95 percent.
Vote counting is delayed in Sao Paulo, Brazil's most populous state, where polls indicated that Alckmin led the presidential race. That means it is still unclear whether Lula will be re-elected in the first round.
Lula has to win more than 50 percent of the votes to win outright on Sunday and avoid going into a runoff on Oct. 31. Full story>>
