Brazil & Southern Cone - February 2009 (ISSN 1741-4431)

Brazil still loves Lula, but Serra is president-in-waiting

President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s popularity remains unassailable. In fact, according to the latest (January 2009) CNT/Sensus opinion poll, the most widely cited barometer of the prevailing public mood in the country, Brazilians take comfort from his sunny disposition and his resolute confidence in the face of the current economic downturn, which is threatening jobs and household incomes this year. The president’s approval rating reached a new record-breaking 84% in January, up from 80.3% in December 2008, while the government’s approval rating was 72.5%, up from 71.1% previously. Frustratingly for Lula and his ruling centre-left Partido dos Trabalhadores (PT), however, the main centre-right oppostion candidate, São Paulo state governor José Serra, of the Partido da Social Democracia Brasileira (PSDB), remains the firm favourite to replace Lula in the next presidential election in 2010.