RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – A survey on President Jair Bolsonaro’s popularity, conducted by XP Investimentos in partnership with the Institute of Social, Political and Economic Research (IPESPE), shows that 46 percent of Brazilians are expecting a “great” or “good” government by the end of his term.
Pessimists, on the other hand, account for 31 percent of respondents. The study asked respondents what they expected for the next three years of government.
A month ago, the positive expectation stood at 43 percent, a variation of three percentage points. The proportion of respondents who expect a “bad” or ” terrible” administration dropped from 33 to 31 percent in the period.
At the start of the year, the positive expectation for the term represented 63 percent of respondents, and 15 percent of them were pessimistic.
The survey also shows a positive fluctuation of 3.2 percentage points in the government’s current assessment, within the margin of error.
The percentage of respondents who believe the administration to be “good” or “great” increased from 30 to 33 percent in relation to September. The disapproval of Bolsonaro dropped from 41 to 38 percent and the percentage of respondents who consider the government “fair” remained stable at 27 percent.
The result occurs after a sequence of findings that showed a downturn in the population’s assessment of the government, as pointed out by the XP/IPESPE survey in the previous two months. Between July and September, the proportion of those who regarded Bolsonaro’s administration as “bad” or “terrible” increased from 35 to 41 percent in the survey, while approval fell from 34 to 30 percent.
According to XP Investimentos, the survey conducted a thousand telephone interviews throughout the country between October 9th and 11th. The last time the survey showed stability in the assessment, with a positive trend, had been between May and June.
The assessment of Congress, also measured in the survey, fluctuated in the opposite direction. The proportion of respondents who consider the performance of legislators to be “bad” or “terrible” rose from 39 to 42 percent, and the positive assessment dropped from 16 to 14 percent.
Privatizations
The study challenged for the second time the public’s support for the privatization policy, one of Bolsonaro’s main banners during the campaign.
The results show an increase in the number of people supporting the sale of state-owned companies to the private sector. Those who oppose privatization, however, are still the majority.
Between July and October, the percentage of people who said they favor selling public companies increased from 33 to 39 percent.
On the other hand, the proportion of those who are against the government’s proposals for this area dropped from 58 to 55 percent, while the number of those who do not know or did not answer fell from eight to six percent.
As for the relationship between Bolsonaro and the Minister of Economy, Paulo Guedes, the assessment that the two have little or no rapport with each other prevails. Asked about the way the president and the minister work together, 35 percent said they have “some attunement” and 34 percent consider that “there is no attunement” between them.
The survey does not show previous assessments regarding the relationship between the two.
On the other hand, the vuew of Operation Lava Jato has worsened slightly over the last few months. From August to October, the proportion of respondents who had their opinions changed for the worse after the leaks that showed exchanges of messages between the then judge Sérgio Moro and prosecutors increased.
The number of people who said their opinions had not changed as a result of the leaks dropped from 49 to 45 percent.
Those who believe that Lava Jato committed abuses and support the review of decisions increased from 38 to 40 percent. Respondents who do not see any abuse in the operation dropped from 38 to 36 percent. Those who admit that abuses occurred, but respond that “the result was worth it” fell from 16 to 14 percent between August and October.
However, the number of respondents who replied that they did not remember the leaks and did not know how to give an opinion on the case in question increased. The proportion of people who said they were unaware of the case increased from 16 to 20 percent in the past two months.
The survey also asked about the decision of former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, convicted in Lava Jato, to refuse the semi-open prison regime.
Most, representing 37 percent, say he should remain in prison full time. Another 30 percent say he should only move to the work release regime if he so wishes.
Source: O Estado de S. Paulo.