Ivan Richard
Reporter - Agência Brasil

Brasília - For the first time in the series of quarterly Brazilian Institute of Public Opinion and Research (Ibope) polls conducted at the behest of the National Confederation of Industry (CNI), the number of people who judge president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's administration to be poor or very poor (32%) is greater than the number who regard it as good or excellent (29%).

In June, 2003, when the poll evaluated Lula's administration for the first time, 11% considered the government to be poor or very poor, while 43% said it was good or excellent. In June of this year, 35% considered it good or excellent.

In the latest poll, 36% of the people surveyed classified the administration as so-so, compared with 41% in the June poll.

These data appear in the 11th CNI/Ibope poll, released today. According to the survey, "the evaluation worsened in all the segments investigated."

For the director of the CNI, Marco Antonio Guarita, the decline reflects popular perceptions of the political crisis. According to the CNI, the news transmitted in newspapers and on the radio and TV is unfavorable to the administration in the opinion of 61% of the people interviewed, while only 11% regard the news as positive. "This shows the government's inability to produce good news," he affirmed.

2002 people aged 16 or more were interviewed in 143 municipalities, from September 8-12. The margin of error in the survey is plus or minus 2%.

Translation: David Silberstein