(Angus Reid Global Monitor) – Support for Panamanian president Martín Torrijos increased last month, according to a poll by Dichter & Neira released by TVN Noticias and Panamá América. 53.3 per cent of respondents rate the head of state’s performance as excellent or good, up 3.5 points since August.
(Angus Reid Global Monitor) – Support for Panamanian president Martín Torrijos increased last month, according to a poll by Dichter & Neira released by TVN Noticias and Panamá América. 53.3 per cent of respondents rate the head of state’s performance as excellent or good, up 3.5 points since August.
Torrijos—the son of Omar Torrijos, an army general who ruled Panama from 1968 to 1981—won the May 2004 presidential election as a candidate for the Revolutionary Democratic Party (PRD) with 47.44 per cent of the vote.
In 1999, Panama regained full control of the Panama Canal, the source of 10 per cent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). In October 2006, Panamanian voters supported the canal’s $5.25 billion U.S. expansion plan—which would add a parallel set of locks to allow giant cargo ships to pass through the waterway—in a nationwide referendum.
Last month, during the annual United Nations (UN) General Assembly, Torrijos proposed to wage a war against global famine, saying that expensive food represents "a menace to social peace," and adding, "The General Assembly should so declare it, so that all governmental forces, the private sector and international organizations join efforts in a crusade to save millions of people from the claws of poverty."
Polling Data
How would you rate the performance of Martín Torrijos as president?
|
Sept. 2008 |
Aug. 2008 |
Jul. 2008 |
|
|
Excellent / Good |
53.3% |
49.8% |
48.2% |
|
Bad / Very Bad |
42.0% |
45.3% |
49.9% |
Source: Dichter & Neira / TVN Noticias / Panamá América
Methodology: Interviews with 1,200 Panamanian adults, conducted from Sept. 12 to Sept. 14, 2008. Margin of error is 2.9 per cent.
