'Shocked,' Government Assesses Reaction to Fall in President Rousseff's Popularity

02/09/2015 - 08h48

The Brazilian government was shocked with a Datafolha survey disclosed on Sunday, February 8, which showed a fall of 9 points in the approval of President Dilma Rousseff's popularity but hasn't drawn up a strategy to react.

For now, members of the government believe that the population felt betrayed by the difference between what Rousseff said during her campaign in the presidential run and the reality of the post-election scenario: more expensive energy, water shortages in São Paulo and blackouts in some states.

Members of the executive branch also accepted blame for the process of announcements of fiscal adjustments, which involved a tax increase, temporary suspension of outlay, cuts in subsidies for the electric sector and changes in social benefits.

The evaluation is that the government encouraged negative expectations regarding the near future, without managing to explain that the tighter scenario was to preserve the victories of the past decade.

The share of the population that considers the Rousseff administration good or very good fell from 42% to 23% from December 2014 to February 2015.

In the same period, the share which considers the administration bad or very bad increased from 24% to 44%.

Other advisors stress the fact that the president has sharply reduced communication with society. Internally, Rousseff also reduced communication with her team.

Since the election, she has only met with marketing planner João Santana once. Rousseff's advisors believe Santana should be called to help recover the president's image.

Translated by THOMAS MUELLO

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	Juca Varella/Folhapress
	Dilma Rousseff delivers a speech during the celebration of the 35th anniversary of the Workers' Party (PT) in Belo Horizonte