Presidential candidates Renan Santos of the Missão party and Ronaldo Caiado of the Partido Social Democrático (PSD) arrived on Sunday afternoon at the TV Bandeirantes studios in southern São Paulo ahead of Brazil's first presidential debate of the election campaign, scheduled to begin at 8pm.
Santos was the first candidate to arrive, followed by Caiado.
Augusto Cury of the Avante party also arrived at the broadcaster and initially announced he would not take part in the debate. Minutes later he reversed course, saying he had decided to participate out of respect for TV Bandeirantes, one of Brazil's major national television networks.
Order of candidates
TV Bandeirantes held a draw, attended by campaign advisers and coordinators, to set each candidate's position on stage, arranged from left to right as seen by viewers.
The draw placed Santos at the far left, followed by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of the Workers' Party (PT) and Senator Flávio Bolsonaro of the Liberal Party (PL). Caiado, Cury and Romeu Zema of the Novo party completed the lineup. If any candidate fails to show up, their spot on stage will remain empty.
How the debate will work
Mediators will open with rounds of identical questions for all candidates on central campaign themes, giving each two minutes to lay out proposals. In rounds where journalists or rival candidates pose questions, the person asking will have up to one minute to formulate it, and the candidate being questioned will have four minutes to respond, including any reply and rebuttal.
Eligibility rules for the debate
Under Brazilian electoral law, candidates are eligible to take part in presidential debates if their party holds at least five seats in the National Congress and their candidacy registration has been approved. The number of participants and other debate rules are set jointly by the parties and the broadcaster, with the arrangements reported to the Electoral Justice.
