RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Support for the government of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro fell six percentage points to 24%, the lowest level since the beginning of his mandate, on January 1, 2019, according to a survey released Wednesday night.
Support went from 30%, last March, to the current 24%, according to the Datafolha institute poll, which interviewed 2,071 people between May 11 and 12 and has a margin of error of two percentage points.
The popularity of Brazil’s far-right leader has been falling in recent months, after reaching a record 37% in December 2020. The disapproval rate, in turn, rose one percentage point, from 44%, in March, to 45%.
Datafolha also revealed the day before that Bolsonaro would lose the 2022 presidential elections to former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, his main rival and who regained his political rights a little more than two months ago.
According to the poll, Lula (2003-2010), who has returned to the political arena, would win with 55% of the votes against 32% of the former Army reserve captain, one of the most denialist leaders on the seriousness of the pandemic.
The leader of the Workers’ Party has shown signs of a possible candidacy for next year’s elections after Supreme Court Justice Edson Fachin annulled 4 trials against Lula in Curitiba due to a conflict of jurisdiction and decided that the cases should be reheard in other courts.
The decision rendered null and void the sentences of almost 26 years of imprisonment against Lula, who spent 580 days in prison after being convicted of corruption.