Brasilia, July 18 (IANS) Half of the Brazilian popoulation expects interim President Michel Temer to continue serving while nearly a third of them want suspended President Dilma Rousseff to return, a new poll showed.
Rousseff was suspended on May 12 when the Senate voted to put her on trial. She was replaced by Temer, her former deputy, Xinhua news agency reported.
The survey, carried out by polling firm Datafolha and published by the regional daily Folha de Sao Paulo on Sunday, showed that another 4 per cent were against both leaders and 3 per cent favored holding new elections.
Some 9 per cent declined to answer, the poll said.
The survey also asked respondents to rate Temer's first two months in office, which 14 per cent considered "good", 42 per cent described as "so so", and 31 per cent rated as "bad", with 13 per cent declining to comment.
The survey interviewed 2,792 registered voters in 171 cities on Thursday and Friday, and has a two-point margin of error.
The poll dealt a major blow to Rousseff, who is expected to attend a full impeachment trial in the Senate in August and is hoping to be absolved of charges that she helped conceal a growing budget deficit.
If two-thirds of the Senate finds her guilty, Rousseff will be stripped of the presidency, leaving Temer to see through her term until January 1, 2019.
The results, however, are a stunning achievement for Temer.
Less than one and half month ago, a poll conducted by a different firm found that less than 12 per cent of Brazilians approved of the interim government led by Temer.
On June 27, a survey showed that 70 per cent of Brazilians disapproved of the acting president.
