MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Pettovello denting Milei's approval ratings

Pettovello was likened to former First Lady Fabiola Yáñez, who did little good to then-President Alberto Fernández's image

A study by the consulting firm Zuban Córdoba showed that Argentine President Javier Milei's approval ratings were falling below those of other officials of his administration such as Security Minister Patricia Bullrich and Vice President Victoria Villarruel. These results were said to be driven by scandals involving the President's protegé, Human Capital Minister Sandra Pettovello.

Despite the Libertarian Government's boost after the Senate passed the so-called Bases Law coupled with an extension to the currency swap with China and other achievements, a recent scandal involving Pettovello's inefficiency of that of her agency in distributing food to the needy in addition to hiring outsourced staffers with salaries above those earned by regular civil servants while claiming the state's accounts were to be balanced to reach zero deficit dented the head of state's image, it was explained.

According to Ana Paola Zuban of the polling firm, “Pettovello's image is comparable to Fabiola's photo in Olivos,” she said regarding former First Lady Fabiola Yáñez's birthday pictures at the Olivos Residence during the Covid-19 lockdowns in which then-President Alberto Fernández was portrayed as breaking the rules he himself had decreed. Pettovello has only 36.3% positive image and 59.7% rejection.

In this scenario, Milei keeps a positive evaluation of 43.7%, while the negative one reaches 55.8%. “President Milei suffered this month one of his steepest drops in the six months of government. The first crisis in the last month has clearly had its effect. The different management indicators continue to show a negative economic assessment”, Zuban and Gustavo Córdoba said when presenting the opinion report.

The same consulting firm had found Milei had a 46.6% positive image and a 52.7% representation in late May. In mid-April, the head of state had 47.2% support and 52.5% rejection.

The Senate passing the Bases Law bill with Villarruel's tie-breaking vote “momentarily clears the gray clouds that were looming on the horizon,” the pollsters explained.

Security Minister Bullrich, who was a defeated presidential candidate last year, was found to have a 47.1% positive image against a 41.5% negative one while Villarruel had 46.2% support and 52% rejection.

After the Congressional victory, Milei's administration is about to be given the tools it claimed to need to rescue Argentina from her plight. Hence, the constant mention of the previous government will no longer be a valid excuse and the Libertarians “will be judged more and more by its own results,” Zuban and Córdoba also pointed out.

The pollsters also warned that Pettovello's performance “from concealment to denial, understatement, false information, etc.” may cause “a rupture of the tacit electoral contract between the ruler and the citizenry.”

From within the opposition, Peronist leader Juan Grabois was found to have a 46.2% positive image and a 52% negative one, while former President Cristina Kirchner came out with a 45.5% approval coupled with a 53.6% rejection. Ricardo Alfonsín, son of former President Raúl Alfonsín had 44.5% support and 49.9% rejection. Former Domestic Trade Secretary Guillermo Moreno was found to have a surprising 34.9% positive image albeit with a 60.2% negative one. Former President Mauricio Macri has a 30% positive image but 67.4% disapproval.

The Zuban Córdoba study was carried out among 1,400 people consulted between June 7 and 8, 2024, with a questionnaire structured in the CAWI format (computer-assisted interviews).