(10/07/08) - Brazilians Overwhelmingly Backing Lula
(Angus Reid Global Monitor) – Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is increasingly popular, according to a poll by Ibope. 69 per cent of respondents say Lula’s performance has been good or very good, up 11 points since June.
(Angus Reid Global Monitor) – Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is increasingly popular, according to a poll by Ibope. 69 per cent of respondents say Lula’s performance has been good or very good, up 11 points since June.
Lula—a member of the Worker’s Party (PT)—won the October 2002 presidential election with 61 per cent of the vote in a run-off against Jose Serra of the Brazilian Party of Social Democracy (PSDB). In October 2006, he earned a new four-year term, defeating PSDB candidate Geraldo Alckmin with 60.8 per cent of the vote in the second round. Lula is ineligible for a third consecutive term in office.
In 2006, Lula’s party was affected by a series of corruption scandals. The socialist-leaning president—also a former union leader—led a strong economy with conservative fiscal policies during his first mandate, and was praised for his poverty-reduction initiatives.
This year, Brazil has experienced a new oil boom, due to high crude prices and several new exploration projects off the country’s coast.
On Sept. 30, Lula announced that every municipality in the country will have a public library by 2009, declaring, "Today is an important day for our beautiful literature. There are still many more chapters to go through in access to reading in Brazil."
Polling Data
How would you rate the performance of Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva as president?
| |
Sept. 2008
|
Jun. 2008
|
Dec. 2007
|
|
Good / Very Good
|
69%
|
58%
|
51%
|
|
Fair
|
23%
|
29%
|
31%
|
|
Bad / Very Bad
|
8%
|
12%
|
17%
|
Source: Ibope
Methodology: Interviews with 2,002 Brazilian adults, conducted from Sept. 19 to Sept. 22, 2008. Margin of error is 2.2 per cent.