Even South America's Trump... Over Half of Brazilian Citizens Support Impeachment

Photo by The Guardian

[Asia Economy Reporter Yujin Cho] Amid growing calls for the impeachment of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who has been at the center of controversies over inadequate COVID-19 response and corruption, a poll has revealed that the majority supports his impeachment.

According to the British newspaper The Guardian and others on the 11th (local time), a survey conducted by Brazilian polling firm Datafolha on the 7th and 8th targeting 2,074 people aged 16 and over showed that 54% were in favor of impeaching President Bolsonaro, while 42% opposed it.

This is the first time that pro-impeachment opinions have been dominant in a poll regarding President Bolsonaro. When asked whether the president has the ability to lead the country, 63% responded "no," and 34% said "yes."

Following the Senate's COVID-19 investigation, this latest poll showing a majority in favor of impeachment is expected to provide significant momentum for the impeachment process.

In Brazilian politics, a cross-party movement for the president's impeachment is emerging. More than 120 impeachment requests against President Bolsonaro have been submitted to the House of Representatives, which holds the authority to initiate impeachment proceedings.

These requests cite reasons for impeachment including inadequate COVID-19 response, vaccine corruption scandals, abuse of military personnel appointment powers, and interference in federal police investigations.

For the president to be impeached, two-thirds (342) of the 513 members of the House of Representatives and two-thirds (54) of the 81 members of the Senate must vote in favor.

Known as the "Trump of South America," Bolsonaro is cornered by public outrage over his failure in pandemic control and vaccine corruption scandals.

On the 29th of last month, during a government investigation, it was revealed that the government contracted for Indian-made vaccines at prices ten times higher than the actual cost, and that the president was aware but turned a blind eye.

Since May, protests demanding Bolsonaro's impeachment have been spreading, further worsening public opinion. Both left-wing factions and right-wing parties, as well as civic groups, have joined the demonstrations.

Meanwhile, in Datafolha's recent survey, evaluations of the Bolsonaro administration's governance were 24% positive, 51% negative, and 24% neutral.

The negative rating is the highest among the 13 surveys conducted by Datafolha since the Bolsonaro administration began in early 2019.

In Brazil, since the 1950 constitution first included provisions for presidential impeachment, there have been two impeachments to date: former President Fernando Collor de Mello in 1992 and former President Dilma Rousseff in 2016.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.