He will take part in televised debates and focus on security and crime.

On Monday, Brazilian President and re-election candidate Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said he would seek to persuade abstainers to vote and would participate in televised debates ahead of the Oct. 25 runoff.

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Lula outlined these priorities for the next three weeks during the first meeting he held with his campaign team after trailing Flavio Bolsonaro by nearly two percentage points in the first round.

The progressive president, who received 45.16% of the vote compared with 47.03% for the far-right senator, said 30 million Brazilians did not vote because of a lack of interest.

“It is our responsibility to restore their interest in participating in the elections,” he said in the presence of Vice President and re-election candidate Geraldo Alckmin and Workers’ Party leader Edinho Silva, among other attendees.

“F**k Bolsonaro! Stand against fascism and racism!”

University students in the city of Niteroi, state of Rio de Janeiro, took the streets in support of Lula da Silva on Monday night, 24 hours after Brazil’s elections. The action was called by the Evaristo da Veiga Academic… pic.twitter.com/4utCoQaj1E

— BreakThrough News (@BTnewsroom) October 6, 2026

Lula also said he would increase his media exposure with more radio appearances and televised debates against Bolsonaro. “Now it is important to have debates on television because it is a face-to-face,” said the Workers’ Party leader, who refused to participate in media debates before the first round.

Lula gave hints about the issues he will emphasize in the coming weeks, many of them associated with his rival’s campaign. Regarding security, the president acknowledged that criminal factions have “won the game” so far and pledged to step up the fight against organized crime.

“Criminals have to go to prison,” he said, before calling on the Senate to approve as soon as possible a government bill to carry out a constitutional reform on security.

On the other hand, Lula intensified his criticism of the Supreme Court, a frequent target of the far right, and said it was necessary to “end the promiscuity” of the court, referring to ties between several justices and a banker jailed for a multibillion-dollar financial fraud.

With these objectives in mind, the candidate once again expressed optimism about his chances of winning the second round. “There is no economic, social or political reason not to be elected president,” he concluded.

teleSUR/ JF

Source: EFE

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