Temer administration seen as good by 5% of Brazilians, 72% as bad

A survey released Thursday (Apr. 5) by the National Confederation of Industry (CNI) shows that the percentage of Brazilians who describe President Temer’s administration as great or good slipped from 6% to 5% from the previous poll, conducted in December last year. “The changes are within the margin of error,” said Renato da Fonseca, CNI executive manager for research and competitiveness.

Those who labeled the government as bad or terrible went from 74% to 72%, whereas the respondents who described it as OK amounted to 19% in December, 2017, and now to 21%. Two percent said they did not know or failed to answer. The poll was carried out from March 22 to 25, and heard 2 thousand people across 126 municipalities throughout the country. The margin of error is two percentage points, plus or minus, and the confidence level stands at 95%.

In the survey, 87% of the country’s population disapprove of Temer’s governing style, 9% approve of it, 4% do know know or did not answer. As for confidence in the president, 89% do not trust him, 8% do, and 3% do not know or did not answer.

In Fonseca’s opinion, despite the fall in the inflation and the signs of recovery of employment, the population still fails to see improvements in the economy. Even though it has been widely publicized by the media, he argued, many goods and services have become more and more expensive, like gas, liquified petroleum gas, bus fares, and school supplies.

“People are still not convinced that the economy is recovering, because clearly a number of prices haven’t stop rising,” he said, mentioning this as the reason why the government seems unable to  avail itself of the news to boost its popularity.

Fields of work

Regarding the government’s nine fields of work, figures also remained within the margin of error. The most significant change took place in public security. The percentage of people who approve of the government’s actions and policies hiked from 11% to 14%, compared to a decline from 86% to 84% among those who disapprove. This may have come as a result of the federal intervention implemented in Rio de Janeiro state, Fonseca noted.

Corruption-related incidents are still the most vividly remembered by the population. According to the pollster, 19% of interviewees named at least one episode on the issue. Other hot topics include the intervention in Rio and the country’s pension overhaul.

Translated by Fabrício Ferreira