In 2010, Dilma Rousseff made Brazilian history as the first female president of the South American nation. With 56 percent of the vote, she was able to secure the victory against José Serra with a platform of “eradicating extreme poverty” and “reducing inequality” in Brazil, as well putting more of a focus on increasing the quality of education for the youth of the nation. The president before her, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, left office with an approval rating of over 80 percent, so Dilma certainly had some large shoes to fill for their party, the Worker’s Party (PT).1
By the end of 2011, Rousseff had been faced with several challenges that tested the rookie politician in her first year in office. For example, according to the BBC, several of Rousseff’s ministers left office after “several misdeeds” were exposed. However, that first year had proven to be successful for the president, as she raked in approval ratings of 72 percent,2 which is, unfortunately, not something that can be said today.
When Ms. Rousseff won re-election in 2014 against Aécio Neves, she had only secured 51.6% of the vote, compared to the 48.4 percent of Neves, which was the slimmest margin of victory in “Brazilian electoral history.”3 Since the election, Rouseff’s administration has been marred with allegations of corruption and scandal and, as a result, her popularity has been in a free-fall.
The primary cause for Dilma’s decline in popularity was the infamous “Petrobras Scandal,” a bribery and money-laundering scheme by one of world’s largest energy companies, which came into the public eye in early 2014. Rousseff was the head of the Petrobras board of directors from 2003 until 2010, and while she was not reportedly directly involved in the scandal, many of the alleged crimes occurred under her tenure. The scandal has followed her since, as several senior executives have been arrested,4 which has reflected poorly on her approval ratings which, by March of 2015, had sunk to just over 15 percent.5 The last time a Brazilian president’s approval ratings were that low, the president was impeached. That was in 1992 when Fernando Collor de Mello was impeached for corruption, though resigned before being sent to trial and was ultimately found not guilty.6 March was not the end, though, for the fall of Rousseff.
The following July, several construction executives involved with the Petrobras Scandal were convicted,7 and coupled with a weakening economy with the depreciation of the Brazilian Real, Rousseff’s popularity took another huge blow, falling below the 10 percent mark with a dismal 7.7% approval rating.5 All the while, at least 71 percent of Brazilians view her administration as either “bad” or “terrible,” which is causing many to call for her impeachment. While she still denies any and all allegations, her ratings continue to fall to numbers that are the lowest of any “democratically elected president since [Brazil’s] military dictatorship ended in 1985.”8 Sadly, Rousseff’s woes do not end with Petrobras or the recent recession.
Early in October, a court had ruled that the Rousseff’s administration’s accounting practices in 2014 were illegal, stating that the government had used “unauthorized loans from state-owned banks to make up for budget shortfalls.” With approval ratings sitting at 10 percent for that month, it is seeming more likely that the Brazilian president will be facing a more serious threat to her removal from office.9
References
1. Phillips, Tom. “Dilma Rousseff wins Brazil’s presidential election.” The Guardian. 31 Oct. 2010.
2. “Brazil’s President Rousseff makes her mark.” BBC. 29 Dec. 2011.
3. “A riven country.” Economist. 27 Oct. 2014.
4. Barnato, Katy. “Why the Petrobras scandal is shaking Brazil.” CNBC. 24 Nov. 2014.
5. Edgerton, Anna and Sergio Lima, Mario. “Rousseff’s Popularity Plummets as Brazilian Economy Shrinks.” Bloomberg. 21 Jul. 2015.
6. Avins, Jenni. “Dilma’s approval ratings are the worst for a Brazilian president since 1992—and that president was impeached.” Quartz. 18 Mar. 2015.
7. Lee, Brianna. “Brazil Petrobras Scandal: President Dilma Rousseff Approval Rating Falls To 7 Percent As Construction Executives Convicted.” International Business Times. 21 Jul. 2015.
8. Fenton, Siobhan. “Dilma Rousseff: Brazilian President’s approval rating drops to just 8 percent.” Independent. 7 Aug. 2015.
9. “Brazil’s Rousseff faces impeachment threat.” Al Jazeera. 8 Oct. 2015.
