(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - The popularity of Costa Rican president Óscar Arias has fallen considerably in just three months, according to a poll by Demoscopia published in Al Día. 27.5 per cent of respondents think Arias has done a good or very good job as head of state, down 16.5 points since April.

Arias—a member of the National Liberation Party (PLN)—won the February 2006 presidential election with 40.92 per cent of all cast ballots. Arias headed the government from 1986 to 1990, and was able to run again after the Costa Rican Legislative Assembly opted to bring back presidential re-election in 2003. He was sworn in for the second time in May 2006.

In 1987, Arias was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his mediation in a peace deal that ended years of bloodshed in Central America. In 2007, Costa Rican voters ratified the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) in a nationwide referendum.

On Aug. 5, Costa Rican housing minister Fernando Zumbado—who handles most of the current government’s social policies—tendered his resignation amidst accusations of corruption. Zumbado had stepped aside from his duties in July as authorities investigated his handling of a $1.5 million U.S. donation from Taiwan for the country’s poor. The sum was sent through the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (BCIE). The investigation is still ongoing.

Zumbado personally offered his resignation to Arias, and later declared: "My good reputation and the positive image of the Housing Ministry have been seriously affected by the lynching to which some irresponsible media have subjected me and by the ill-will of some populist politicians."

Polling Data

How would you rate Óscar Arias Sánchez’s performance as president?

Source: Demoscopia / Al Día
Methodology: Interviews to 1,213 Costa Rican adults, conducted from Jul. 19 to Jul. 27, 2008. Margin of error is 3.5 per cent.

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