The approval rating of President Ivan Duque this month dropped to its second lowest point since he took office in August last year and reached 28% in June, pollster Yanhaas revealed Thursday.
The president’s disapproval rating rose six points to 63%.
Yanhaas’ poll contradicted a a recent poll by Datexco, which registered Duque’s approval rating had slightly improved from 29% in April to 32% early this month.
Duque’s approval rating
Ironically, particularly young Colombians disapprove of one of the youngest president in the history of the republic. Duque’s disapproval among people between 18 and 24 reached 81%. Only 17% of Colombians within this age group approve of their president.
Duque can count on significantly more support among older Colombians, Yanhaas indicated. Of people older than 55, 44% said they approved of the president and 39% disapproved.
Duque’s low approval rating is historic as no Colombian president in the history of polling lost the approval of Colombians in such a short period of time.
While dramatically low, Duque’s approval rating is relatively good compared to his cabinet, which can count on the approval of only 25% of Colombians and is disapproved of by 68%.
The high disapproval rating of the Duque administration appears to be mainly due to Colombians’ negative perception of his economic policies and perceived inability to curb corruption.
Seventy-three percent of Colombians disapproved of how Duque is dealing with corruption against 22% who said the president was doing well.
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Despite Duque’s reiterated claims he has been “recovering” the economy, 88% of Colombians told Yanhaas they believe the opposite and said the economy has stagnated or is getting worse. Only 11% said they believed that the country’s economy has been improving under Duque.
In regards to the president’s approach to the country’s historically high unemployment rate, 69% said they disapproved about the government’s labor policies and only 6% said to approve.
Only 21% of those interviewed said to be optimistic about the future of Colombia against 41% who expressed pessimism.