(Angus Reid Global Monitor) – The large majority of Colombians think the administration of president-elect Juan Manuel Santos will be very similar to that of outgoing head of state Álvaro Uribe, according to a poll by Datexco released by El Tiempo and W Radio. 74.8 per cent of respondents expect the two presidents to lead very similar governments.
(Angus Reid Global Monitor) – The large majority of Colombians think the administration of president-elect Juan Manuel Santos will be very similar to that of outgoing head of state Álvaro Uribe, according to a poll by Datexco released by El Tiempo and W Radio. 74.8 per cent of respondents expect the two presidents to lead very similar governments.
Colombians voted in the second round of presidential elections on Jun. 20. Santos of the governing U Party (U) finished in first place with 69.1 per cent of all cast ballots. Antanas Mockus of the Green Party (PV) was a distant second with 27.5 per cent.
Santos served as defence minister under Uribe. He has vowed to continue his policies, mostly focused on security and attracting foreign investment.
Uribe has been Colombia’s president since 2002. In the May 2006 election, he won a new four-year term with 62.2 per cent of all cast ballots after overseeing a constitutional amendment that allowed him to run for a second consecutive term in office.
Uribe has been praised for reducing kidnappings and terrorist acts perpetrated by the rebel Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). However, his administration has been tarnished by several major scandals, including the so-called "para-politics" affair, which has linked three quarters of allied lawmakers with right-wing death squads, and the "false-positives" executions scandal, which saw the killing of over 2,000 disadvantaged civilian men by army officers who later presented their remains as FARC casualties to inflate the body count.
In his victory speech, Santos addressed Uribe directly, telling him, "This victory is also yours. [You] are one of the best presidents Colombia has ever had."
Polling Data
Do you expect the government of Juan Manuel Santos to be similar to the government of Álvaro Uribe?
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Very similar
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74.8%
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Moderately similar
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15.8%
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Not similar at all
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3.0%
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Source: Datexco / El Tiempo / W Radio
Methodology: Interviews with 1,200 Colombian adults, conducted on Jun. 24, 2010. Margin of error is 2.9 per cent.
