LULA BRAGS ABOUT PRISON VOTE AND TAKES A SWING AT JAIR BOLSONARO
During Sunday night’s Band debate for Brazil’s presidential runoff, Flávio Bolsonaro hit Lula with a direct question on public safety. With crime up under the current government, he asked why nearly 73 percent of votes cast at prison polling stations went to Lula in the first round
Lula’s answer was blunt. He said he wants 100 percent of those votes, “even your father.” He kept going, telling Flávio that Jair Bolsonaro knows him and knows Lula is better than him. Then he addressed the former president directly: “Bolsonaro, vote for me, Bolsonaro. You know your son. You know I am better than him.”
Flávio shot back that his father cannot vote for anyone, including him, because he is the victim of political persecution.
The exchange underscored a clear divide. One candidate treated strong support inside prison sections as something to claim and expand. The other treated it as evidence of a deeper problem with crime and order.
In Brazil only provisional detainees can vote. Convicted prisoners with final sentences cannot. The 72.6 percent figure for Lula in those sections still stands out against the national first-round result, where Flávio led. The runoff is October 25.