June 02, 2008

Abstract: (Angus Reid Global Monitor) - Fewer people in Panama express strong support for Martín Torrijos, according to a poll by CID-Gallup. 19 per cent of respondents think the president has done a good or very good job in office—down four points since January—while 45 per cent rate his performance as average.

(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - Fewer people in Panama express strong support for Martín Torrijos, according to a poll by CID-Gallup. 19 per cent of respondents think the president has done a good or very good job in office—down four points since January—while 45 per cent rate his performance as average.

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.

On May 26, Torrijos announced that the government would tackle hiking rice prices by buying 100 per cent of this year’s harvest from farmers and selling it directly to consumers at a low cost. The president explained his decision saying, "The objective is to generate an increase in national production as soon as possible (...) and lower food prices."

Polling Data

How would you rate the performance of Martín Torrijos as president?

	May 2008	Jan. 2007	Jun. 2006
Good / Very Good	19%	23%	34%
Average	45%	50%	45%
Bad / Very Bad	36%	27%	21%

Source: CID-Gallup
Methodology: Interviews to 1,221 Panamanian adults, conducted from May 5 to May 11, 2008. Margin of error is 2.8 per cent.