Lula and Bolsonaro interrupt a debate before the Brazilian elections

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Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and opposition candidate Flavio Bolsonaro rejected a scheduled television debate before the first round of the presidential elections, depriving 158 million voters of watching the confrontation between them.

A debate organized by the TV Globo television network, the most widespread in the country, was scheduled for Thursday evening and provided the last opportunity for the leading presidential candidates to confront each other before the polls opened the day after tomorrow, Sunday.

The cancellation represents the first time in 20 years that the most prominent candidates in Brazil have refused any public confrontation. Other media organizations and business groups have organized debates with other candidates since August 23.

Lula said on Wednesday that he would not attend the TV Globo debate, which was scheduled to include Bolsonaro and two other candidates. Hours before the event began in Rio de Janeiro, Bolsonaro, the son of former President Jair Bolsonaro, also withdrew.

The network said in a statement that the debate was canceled because two decisions, one from the country's electoral court and the other from the Brazilian Supreme Court, created a state of "legal uncertainty" regarding the event.

The first decision ordered TV Globo to remove an empty seat reserved for President Lula, who would have been the subject of questions from his rivals in attendance. The second decision forced the television network to invite candidate Renan Santos, a critic of the president and the most prominent opposition candidate.

Analysts say that Lula and Bolsonaro followed a strategy of avoiding direct confrontations on stage before the first round of voting.

They are likely to face off during the three weeks before the runoff on October 25, if there is a runoff.