A new poll published Thursday shows Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff’s approval rating at a new low and a growing number of people favoring her impeachment.
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A total of 71 percent of those polled disapproved of President Rousseff’s work, higher than the disapproval rate of 68 percent scored by former President Fernando Collor prior to his impeachment in 1992, according to Datafolha.
The county’s economy is expected to contract by around 1.8% this year according to a central bank survey of private sector bank economists.
Ms. Rousseff, of the Workers’ Party, was elected to a second term in a tight contest in October 2014 against Social Democrat Aécio Neves.
Sixty-six percent of respondents said Rousseff should be impeached, up from 63 percent in an April poll.
Meanwhile, an ongoing investigation surrounding state-run oil company Petróleo Brasileiro SA, or Petrobras, has also weighed on Ms. Rousseff’s approval rating, though she hasn’t been accused of any wrongdoing and has denied any involvement in the scandal.
Collor, now a senator for the Brazilian Labour Party (PTB), took to the senate floor to deny the charges saying he had allegedly taken 26 million reais (nearly 7.5 million U.S. dollars) in bribes.
Ms Rousseff is not a target of the Petrobras corruption probe, but the PSDB is hoping evidence will be produced showing that bribe money helped fund her re-election campaign.
“This is the most serious case against her because it involves the crime of violating the budget law”, said PSDB Senator Aloysio Nunes.
Opposition leaders have called for early elections or Rousseff’s impeachment after she lost control of her political base in Congress and saw her popularity plummet to record lows.
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Their carefully crafted message was that Ms Rousseff’s political opponents were trying to exaggerate Brazil’s temporary economic downturn to destabilise a democratically elected president.
