Brazil's Lula refuses to participate in last TV debate

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who is running for reelection, refused on Thursday to attend a live TV debate with other candidates organized by the leading network TV Globo.

In an answer note to the TV station, Lula, a clear favorite for the next presidency, said he declined Globo's invitation to participate in the last debate before election day because his adversaries would focus on "gratuitous attacks and personal aggressions."

Lula, who took part in three live interviews on Globo during his campaign, said he had showed his ability to face any kind of debate.

The presidential hopeful, who enjoyed 52 percent of support in the latest poll, is trying his best to secure his win in the first round of the election on Oct. 1.

Lula's campaign staff believed that his presence at the debate would represent an unnecessary risk to his performance in the polls on Sunday, local reports said.

Instead, Lula chose to attend the last campaign rally also scheduled for Thursday evening in the town of Sao Bernardo do Campo, in the Sao Paulo region where he launched his political career.

Lula's support witnessed a decline following an alleged dirty tricks scandal involving his former campaign chief Ricardo Berzoini.

He had been distancing himself from the scandal, blaming Berzoini for his alleged role in a smear campaign against an opposition politician.

The scandal emerged last weekend after police arrested an attorney who was allegedly hired by Lula's party to buy an incriminating dossier against Jose Serra of the opposition Social Democracy Party (PSDB).

Serra was favored to win the Sao Paulo state governor election running as candidate of the PSDB, the main opponent of Aloizio Mercadante, of Lula's Workers Party.

Lula's campaign staff said earlier this week the president would try hard to bounce back from the scandal in a bid to secure an absolute majority of the vote on Sunday to win in the first round.

Source: Xinhua