POLITICS: M & M – lowest on presidential totem pole
Panamanian’s hope of a “change” and an end to government scandals have not been realized according to polls.
Only Mireya Moscoso had a lower approval rating than President Ricardo Martinelli after nearly three years in office,
According to the latest survey by Unimer– commissioned by La Prensa and carried out between May 17 and 20 – the President, for the first time in almost three years of management, was rated negatively by more than half of the population. 55.5% of respondents rated his managment as "poor" and "very bad", while 43.2% rated it as "good" and "excellent" .
The figures are particularly relevant says La Prensa when considering that Martinelli was elected by 60% of the population, a significantly higher starting point than previous leaders, Ernesto Perez Balladares (33%), Mireya Moscoso (44%) and Martin Torrijos (47%) .
The data also shows that after his first 100 days in office, Martinelli recorded a popularity rating higher than the levels achieved by his three predecessors.
In his first three months in office, Perez Balladares got an 81.3%, approval rating while Moscoso and Torrijos had 70%. Martinelli trumped them all with 85.9%.
But the love affair seems to be over is over. with only 43.2% giving a positive evaluation to his work, That’s a fall of 42.7 points since October 2009.
From the first time was evaluated in October 2009 (when he took 85.9% in popularity), the President has fallen 42.7 points.
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When rated "good" or "very good". Only Mireya Moscoso, after 36 months in office (in 2002), got a worse grading of 40.8%. Perez Balladares came into his third year of government (in 1997) with a 50.3% pat on the back. Martin Torrijos Espino, in September 2007 was positively evaluated by 58.4% of Panamanians.
SCANDALS
The revelation of the infiltration of drug money in his campaign and clashes with unions of public servants were problems that confronted Perez Balladares in his first years in office.
The bribery scandal approval of the Center for Multimodal Industrial and Services (CEMIS) and the ratification of two judges of the Court shook Moscoso's popularity in her first three years in office.
The scandal of money stolen from funds in the Ministry of Education was in the early years of the Torrijos administration.
Martinelli’s fall in the polls coincides with the scandal of alleged bribes received by million-dollar contracts with Italian companies; criticism for interference in other state bodies; the alleged purchase of political opponents: multi million direct contracts and cost overruns on state projects and the request for the resignation of the elected Vice President, Juan Carlos Varela.
It also coincides with the announcement that his party will look for him to repeat in 2014, which contrasts with the many occasions in which he has said he would not seek re-election, including an affidavit he signed last February along with13 notaries .
