Cristina’s Popularity Plunges Further
President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner’s approval ratings have suffered yet another blow, according to the results of a new survey published Thursday in La Nación. The poll, which is conducted on a monthly basis by Consultora Poliarquía, indicates that just 20% of Argentines approve of Cristina’s work as president. The survey also shows that the percentage of people who view Mrs. Kirchner unfavorably has risen to 46%. One month ago, the president’s favorable rating totaled 26% while her unfavorable rating was 34%.
The numbers represent a rapidly deteriorating perception among Argentines that Cristina is capable of governing the country and solving its problems. Perhaps the president can take comfort in the fact that she is not the least popular president so far this decade. Fernando de la Rua’s approval rating plunged to just 8% in the second week of December, 2001, according to a study by the think tank Nueva Mayoria. Days after the poll was conducted, however, De la Rua was forced to abandon the presidency in a helicopter, precipitating what was arguably the greatest political and economic crisis in Argentine history.
Popularity: 1% [?]
I think that for many of us, the question has already become not whether “Cristina is capable of governing the country and solving its problems”, but simply whether she’s in contact with the reality of the whole country, because her strategy so far has been to ignore the problems and disparage the critics who point them out. The current crisis is entirely of the government’s own making and she can undo it quite easily, but she simply won’t accept any compromise.