In the first debate, Bolsonaro and Lula traded insults

• Mr Bolsonaro claimed that the ex-president headed the most corrupt government in Brazilian history.
• Mr Bolsonaro, for his part, claimed to have ruined Brazil.
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• According to polls, Lula, who was president from 2003 to 2010, is leading the presidential race.

Jair Bolsonaro, Brazil’s far-right President, and former left-wing leader Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva took part in a heated first television discussion ahead of the October general election.

Mr Bolsonaro claimed that the ex-president headed the most corrupt government in Brazilian history.

Mr Bolsonaro, for his part, claimed to have ruined Brazil.

According to polls, Lula, who was president from 2003 to 2010, is leading the presidential race.

However, the distance between the two contenders appears to be closing.

The two frontrunners, along with four other presidential contenders, appeared on TV in So Paulo on Sunday.

Mr Bolsonaro, 67, lost no time in launching an attack on Lula, 76. He called your government “the most corrupt in Brazilian history.”

He also referred to Lula as a “ex-convict” several times, referring to his conviction and imprisonment for corruption in 2018.

Lula reacted angrily to the designation, pointing out that his conviction had been overturned by the Supreme Court.

But Mr Bolsonaro did not let up his criticism of the Lula Administration. “It was a kleptocracy, a government based on robbery,” he said, referring to Operation Car Wash, a corruption scandal involving Brazil’s state-run oil giant Petrobras.

“What do you want to come back to power for? To do the same thing to Petrobras again?” he added.

Lula, for his part, said his government should be remembered for assisting in the emancipation of tens of millions of people and accused President Bolsonaro of destroying that heritage.

He claimed that the current administration is “destroying” the country.

Tempers flared even further among the candidates’ teams, who were watching the debate on a screen backstage.

After jeering and shouting insults as Lula spoke, a member of Lula’s team accused the Bolsonaro camp of “lacking the necessary maturity to attend the discussion.”

Ricardo Salles, a Bolsonaro loyalist and former environment minister, took offence and nearly clashed with a member of Lula’s staff.

Meanwhile, fans of the centrist Brazilian Democratic Movement candidate Simone Tebet screamed at both men, accusing them of being as evil as one other.

Only until the two men were physically separated did the shouting match end.

The first round of voting will take place on October 2, with a second round slated on October 30 if no candidate receives 50% of valid votes.