December 27, 2006

Abstract: (Angus Reid Global Monitor) - Public support for Luis Inacio Lula da Silva remains steady in Brazil, according to a poll by Datafolha published in Folha de Sao Paulo. 52 per cent of respondents rate the president's performance as good or very good, down one point since October.

(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - Public support for Luis Inacio Lula da Silva remains steady in Brazil, according to a poll by Datafolha published in Folha de Sao Paulo. 52 per cent of respondents rate the president's performance as good or very good, down one point since October.

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, he earned a new four-year term, defeating PSDB candidate Geraldo Alckmin with 60.8 per cent of the vote in the second round.

Last year, the Brazilian government was the target of criticism after Brazilian Labour Party (PTB) member Roberto Jefferson declared that members of two political organizations—the Liberal Party (PL) and the Progressive Party (PP)—received payments of up to $12,000 U.S. from the government in exchange for support in the legislative branch. Jefferson has so far provided no evidence to back his allegations.

On Nov. 23, Lula defended fellow PT member and senator Aloizio Mercadante, declaring, "I completely trust in our colleague's innocence." Mercadante has been implicated in a purported scheme to acquire documents to implicate two PSDB members—Alckmin and Serra—in a corruption case.

Polling Data

How would you rate the performance of Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva as president?

	Dec. 2006	Oct. 2006
Good / Very Good	52%	53%
Fair	34%	31%
Bad / Very Bad	14%	15%

Source: Datafolha / Folha de Sao Paulo
Methodology: Interviews with 2,178 Brazilian adults, conducted on Dec. 13, 2006. Margin of error is 2 per cent.