After what happened with the Uruguayan drug trafficker and the resignation of several leaders, the president had a moderate loss of support.
President Luis Lacalle Pou slightly reduced the approval of citizens after the scandal over the delivery of the passport to the Uruguayan drug trafficker Sebastián Marset, which led to the resignation of several leaders, after a survey carried out by Consulting Teams.
After what happened with drug trafficking, the survey reflected that 45% of Uruguayans approved the performance of Lacalle Pou, while 36% disapproved and 18% had intermediate opinions, with 1% who did not give an opinion. In this way, the president closed the year with a positive balance of 9%, although it fell 7% compared to the October differential, as a result of a 3% drop in approval and an increase of 4 points in the negative rating.
According to Equipos Consultores, the most plausible explanation for these variations “is linked to the episodes of the so-called ‘Marset case’, which led to the resignations of two ministers and other government officials at the beginning of November”, such as the cases of Luis Alberto Heber and his vice Guillermo Maciel (Interior), the former chancellor Francisco Bustillo and the advisor Roberto Lafluf.
When breaking down the vote, among those who define themselves as “left” or “center-left”, the enormous majority (70%) disapproved of the performance of Lacalle Pou, while only 12% approved it, while, among those who perceive themselves as “right” or “center-right”, 78% approve and 10% disapprove. Finally, among those who define themselves as “center,” 49% approve of the performance and 24% disapprove.
The annual comparison and with other presidents
However, the survey analyzed the data for the entire year and reflected that the drop in the presidential evaluation was smaller than that recorded exactly a year ago during the “Astesiano case”, when the positive image dropped to 39%, almost tied with the negative, at 38%.
Meanwhile, Consulting Teams analyzed that Lacalle Pou closed the year prior to the 2024 elections with an average annual approval of 46% and 34% disapproval, which gives it a positive net balance of 12%, something that raises it above of the average.
The fact is that all presidents prior to 2005 had negative net balances in the average of their penultimate year, from 8% of Julio María Sanguinetti in 1998 up to 69% negative Jorge Batlle after the crisis.
If you want, the president’s current levels can be compared to those he had Jose Mujica on average in 2013 and below those received Tabare Vazquez in 2008, when he averaged the same approval level for the year as Lacalle Pou in 2023, but with a significantly lower disapproval (24%), so its positive net balance of 23% is the best on record so far at the same point in the period.
In 2018, however, Vazquez ended his penultimate year with a clearly negative net balance of 22%, very similar, curiously, to the one he received Sanguinetti 30 years earlier, in 1998.
Source: Ambito
