Arias Popularity
Plummets in Costa Rica
The popularity of Costa
Rican president Óscar
Arias has fallen
considerably in just
three months, according
to a poll by Demoscopia
published in the Spanish
language daily, Al Día.
Only 27.5% of the
respondents think Oscar
has done a good or very
good job as head of
state, down 16.5% since
a high of 44% in April.
Oscar Arias won the
February 2006
presidential election
with 40.92% per cent of
all cast ballots. Arias
headed the government
from 1986 to 1990, and
was able to run again
after the Costa Rican
Legislative Assembly
opted to bring back
presidential re-election
in 2003. He was sworn in
for the second time in
May 2006.
In 1987, Arias was
awarded the Nobel Peace
Prize for his mediation
in a peace deal that
ended years of bloodshed
in Central America. In
2007, Costa Rican voters
ratified the Central
American Free Trade
Agreement (CAFTA) in a
nationwide referendum.
The agreement, known
locally as the Tratado
Libre de Comercio (TLC)
has yet to be ratified
by the Legislative
Assembly and Costa Rica
has until next month to
join the trade deal that
includes the United
States, Nicaragua,
Guatemala, Honduras,
Guatemala, El Salvador
and the Dominican
Republic. All the other
nations to the trade
deal have ratified and
have had their
respective agreements in
place, making Costa Rica
the only signatory
country not to do so and
the only country to ever
request an extention.
The president's slip in
popularity can
attributed to a scandal
that hit his government
hard in the last month.
On Aug. 5, the ministero
de Vivienda (Housing
minister),
Fernando Zumbado,
tendered his resignation
amidst accusations of
corruption. Zumbado had
stepped aside from his
duties in July as
authorities investigated
his handling of a us$1.5
million U.S. donation
from Taiwan for the
country’s poor. The sum
was sent through the
Banco Centroamerican de
Integracion Economica (BCIE)
- Central American Bank
for Economic
Integration. The
investigation is still
ongoing.
Zumbado, until his
resignation, handled
most of the current
government’s social
policies.
Zumbado personally
offered his resignation
to Arias, and later
declared: "My good
reputation and the
positive image of the
Housing Ministry have
been seriously affected
by the lynching to which
some irresponsible media
have subjected me and by
the ill-will of some
populist politicians."
Arias himself is being
accused of contracting
friends and associates
as consultants for the
government and being
paid high fees.
The president defended
his actions saying they
are not favours or
political payback and
that one has to govern
with friends and not
enemies. Arias ran into
a similar scandal 20
years ago during his
first term in the
presidency.
Polling Data
How would you rate
Óscar Arias Sánchez’s
performance as
president?
| |
Jul. 2008 |
Apr. 2008 |
Jul. 2007 |
|
Good / Very Good |
27.5% |
44.0% |
38.6% |
|
Average |
50.7% |
42.0% |
46.4% |
|
Bad / Very Bad |
21.2% |
13.0% |
14.4% |
Source: Demoscopia / Al
Día
Methodology: Interviews
to 1,213 Costa Rican
adults, conducted from
Jul. 19 to Jul. 27,
2008. Margin of error is
3.5 per cent.
|
