Most Brazilians Want Rousseff and Temer to Leave the Government, Shows Datafolha Survey

04/11/2016 - 10h12

A new Datafolha survey held last week shows that most Brazilians support the impeachment of President Dilma Rousseff (PT), as well as that of Vice President Michel Temer (PMDB). The majority of the Brazilian population also wants both Rousseff and Temer to resign.

The percentage of those who defend both resignations is the same: 60%. The total of Brazilians who support the impeachment of Rousseff fell from 68% in the survey held on March 17 and 18 to 61%, as shown in the last survey, held on April 7 and 8.

The percentage of those who support the impeachment of Temer is 58%. Twenty-eight percent are against Temer's impeachment while 5% said they did not have an opinion and 9% did not answer.

For the survey, 2,779 people were interviewed in 170 Brazilian cities. The survey has a margin of error of 2%.

The survey also detected a reduction from 65% to 60% in the number of those who want Rousseff to resign. The percentage of Brazilians who want Rousseff to leave office via impeachment or resignation returned to the same levels as they were in February.

The new survey shows that in March, when the number of those in favor of Rousseff leaving office reached its peak, the Brazilian people were under the impact of the biggest demonstration against the government registered so far, when some 500,000 people protested against President Rouseff and the PT on Paulista avenue in São Paulo, according to Datafolha figures.

In addition to the city of São Paulo, demonstrations were held in several other Brazilian cities on March 13. The survey interviews last month were held soon after that, on March 17 and 18.

On the day before the beginning of the March survey, courts disclosed wire tapping recordings between President Rousseff and former president Lula making arrangements for the latter's entrance in the government as presidential chief of staff.

A few days earlier, Lula had received a bench warrant to testify at a Federal Police office after he was considered a suspect as he allegedly was the beneficiary of a renovations done in a country house in Atibaia and a three-floor penthouse in Guarujá (SP).

The companies responsible for the renovations were contractors involved in the investigations of the Brazilian Federal Police's Lava Jato operation,

In April, especially in recent days, the Brazilian government and former president Lula began a campaign to try to convince the Brazilian people that the impeachment would be a "coup against democracy," a thesis which has received the support of several other political segments and some famous Brazilians.

Translated by THOMAS MUELLO

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