Sept 16 (Askume) – A televised debate between rivals in the race for mayor of Brazil’s biggest city Sao Paulo descended into chaos when one embroiled candidate hit another with a chair and was ejected.
During Sunday’s debate among six candidates, TV host candidate Jose Luiz Datena attacked rival far-right influencer Pablo Marçal, saying Datena was not manly enough to attack him as he had threatened to do.
In previous debates, Dattner threatened to kill Makara after Makara raised a sexual harassment complaint from a co-worker against Dattner in 2019. The co-worker withdrew her complaint but later said she was intimidated into keeping quiet.
On Sunday, Dattner angrily picked up a chair and smashed it on Makar’s shoulder. Dattner was excluded from the debate after finishing fifth in the October 6 election. Makar’s spokesman said he was leaving to get treatment for an injured rib.
The debate among the remaining candidates is ongoing.
Macar, a political novice whose campaign took off thanks to his strong performances in debates, is third in the polls behind conservative incumbent Ricardo Nunez and his leftist rival Guilherme Boulos.
Nunez and Burrows are close in the polls, with about one-quarter of voters declaring their intentions, according to polling firm Datafolha.
Six pollsters announced new surveys to assess the impact of Sunday’s debate on the city of 11.5 million people.
Political consultancy firm Eurasia said it did not expect the incident to have an impact on the campaign, while another said it could help Dattner, who received about 6% of the vote.
“Most voters don’t know he’s a candidate and now everybody is talking about him. His support is likely to increase,” said Andre Cesar of consultancy Hold Assessoria Legislativa.
