Datafolha: 61% think Lula behaves as he should – 01/04/2023 – Power

The first quarter of the government of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) was marked by gaffes and controversies led by the president, but, for 61% of voters, he behaves always or most of the time in a way that is appropriate to his position.

The perception was captured by Datafolha in a survey carried out on March 29 and 30, marking the first 90 of the PT’s third term.

According to 37% of respondents, Lula behaves appropriately all the time, while 24% believe that he almost always does. Already 20% think that he does not act in a manner consistent with the chair he occupies in most opportunities, and another 18% say that he never does.

Another 2% of respondents could not say. The institute surveyed 2,028 people aged over 16 in 126 cities, in a survey with a margin of error of more or less two points.

During the period, the president was at the center of episodes that ranged from the almost folkloric, as when he pointed out the obesity of Minister Flávio Dino (Justice) at an event, to a serious error of assessment when suggesting that the plan to kill PCC officials thwarted by the Federal Police would be a “Moro setup”.

Sergio Moro was the judge of Operation Lava Jato who put Lula in jail in 2018 – the PT ended up leaving due to the review of the prison rule by decision of the second instance, and the sentence ended up being annulled later when the current senator of the União Brasil do Paraná was declared suspect by the Federal Supreme Court.

The accusation without evidence was criticized by the opposition and by Lula’s allies, aware of the shot in the foot.

Even in the external area, of which Lula is usually proud, the president committed a factual impropriety when he said that Lava Jato was a collusion of the PF and the Federal Public Ministry with US authorities to destroy Brazilian contractors.

The president also used profanity in an interview and was criticized for statements about Brazilian miscegenation, episodes that were in line with several others since he returned to political life after leaving prison in 2019.

The research thus shows a mismatch between the common sense of the population and both the political assessment of serious issues and the court of social networks, eager for summary judgments on any and all issues.

Popular pardon, so to speak, for these episodes is nothing new. In his first quarter in power, Lula’s predecessor, Jair Bolsonaro (PL), starred in several episodes of dubious verbiage. He even posted a pornographic video to criticize what would be Carnival excesses.

But when Datafolha measured what Brazilians thought of his behavior in the first three months of his mandate, the result was only a little more critical than that given to the PT candidate.

54% stated that it was always or almost always adequate (27% for each category), while 43% disapproved of it (20% found it inadequate most of the time, the same rate as Lula, and 23% always saw it that way). At the time, 4% said they did not know how to evaluate. Total sums do not equal 100% due to rounding.