Colombia President, Juan Manuel Santos faces an uphill struggle to secure his re-election in May 2014 with a poll this week released by Datexco revealing that just a quarter of Colombians would vote to keep in him the Casa de Nariño until 2018.
Opposition to the president´s government is growing, while support for his handling of the economy has plummeted, with just a third believing the nation´s finances are improving and a palty 20% approving of his measures to combat unemployment.
In fact, there is very little for Santos to cheer in the results which show citizen confidence in the administration´s totem issues is at an all time low. On security, just a third give the commander-in-chief a thumbs up, while only roughly the same number are confident of a succesful outcome to the Havana peace talks with the FARC.
On health over 70% of Colombians disapprove of the government´s work, while two thirds oppose policies on both the guerrillas and paramilitaries.
Polling is notoriously unpredictable in Colombia and different polling companies can often produce quite different pictures of the nation´s voting intentions. Nevertheless, the president´s top team should be worried as the Datexco figures come hot on the heels of the news that over half the nation is pessimistic about the direction in which the country is going.
And whether or not Datexco is within the margin of error is also largely irrelevant as Santos´inner circle will know well that this latest set of projections follows a trend.
When Santos entered the presidential palace his approval ratings were even higher than those enjoyed by former president Alvaro Uribe, with almost 90% behind the direction of the new government. But Santos´ popularity has been in virtual free fall since early summer last year when his government was heavily criticized for its failed attempt to reform the justice system. Sure, support picked up in August and September when Santos told the nation of his plans to enter into peace talks with the terrorist FARC guerrillas, but the president´s popular appeal quickly began its seemingly irreversible downwards trend in October/November when the talks began.
Colombia Politics´ view
Santos knows he cannot rely on public backing alone to keep him in power. He must use the full resources of the state, and he must rely on footsoldiers to conjure up the votes. Little surprise then that he announced two days ago his support for a plan put forward by governors and mayors to extend their term from four to six years.
Santos has said he will take the proposals to congress, with his backing. What better way to secure the much-needed support of regional politicians ahead of the electoral battle next year than give them such a coveted prize? What better way of encouraging these important local – and vote-winning – figures to line him up votes?
If Santos can bring together a major coalition of politicians he will be almost impossible to remove from office. I´ll scratch your back if you scratch mine, he appears to be saying.
Polls, public opinion…who cares? Votes are what counts, wherever they come from.
Source: Colombia Politics
