MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Argentina: majority disapprove Kirchners and the opposition

Argentines preparing for a new round of protests

Six out of ten Argentines disapprove the way President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner is running government and eight out of ten are disenchanted with the way she's addressing sensitive issues such as corruption and handling of the economy, according to the latest survey from Management & Fit released this Sunday.

Mrs. Kirchner also rates in sixth place among Argentina's leaders with 19.9% of those interviewed arguing her performance will improve during 2008 but 27.6% anticipate worse expectations for the rest of the year. "According to our opinion polls since the farmers' conflict begun in early March, government has been unable to come across positively. People do not agree with road blockades or shortages, but looks to government as responsible for the situation", said Mariel Fornoni head of M&F. Based on this performance the Argentine president is listed sixth among leaders with a positive personal image. Top ranked is Buenos Aires province governor Daniel Scioli with a "good" image of 40% (and 10% "very good"). Scioli is followed by the Mayor of Buenos Aires City, Mauricio Macri who has the potential to head the opposition to the Kirchners. He figures with a "good" image of 38% and 7%, "very good". Right behind comes former president Nestor Kirchner with a "good" image of 36% and 7% "very good". Former Economy minister Roberto Lavagna and Elisa Carrió, leader of an opposition group, rank fourth and fifth. The list follows with Mrs. Kirchner with a "good" image of 30% and "very good", 4%. However, as with her husband Nestor Kirchner, they both have non approval ratings of "fair" 33% and "very bad" of 25%. This means over half of those surveyed have a negative image of the Kirchners. But disapproval of the Kirchners is not automatic support for the opposition: only 22.7% agree with their performance and 53.2% disapprove.