President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil was gearing up for another month of campaigning on Monday after being forced into a surprise run-off election against the centre’s Geraldo Alckmin.

Mr Lula da Silva, who failed to win an outright majority in Sunday’s presidential elections, was in closed meetings on Monday, but he reportedly told aides that one of the mistakes he made was to decline to take part in a televised debate two days before the election.