At the end of the month of February, Uruguayans maintain a divided vision regarding the performance of President Lacalle Pou in office, although with a favorable balance.
According to the latest surveys, 45% of the population approves his management20% maintain a neutral opinion, while the 34% disapprove. Only 1% do not have an opinion. In this way, the net balance (subtraction of approval and disapproval) at the end of February is +11.
These data, in general terms, confirm the recovery of the president’s image after the pronounced fall he experienced in the last quarter of last year. By December 2022, the reviews had almost broken even, with a net balance of +1 (39% approve and 38% disapprove).
If the current trials are compared with those of previous presidents in the same period of government, it can be observed that Lacalle Pou has almost the same approval (even 2 points more) than Tabaré Vázquez in his first government in April 2008, and that in the Mujica government in April 2013 (45% vs. 43%). Mujica also had almost the same disapproval as Lacalle Pou currently (34% Lacalle Pou and 33% Mujica).
The main difference with Tabaré Vázquez in his first government is that the latter had a significantly less disapproval (19%) than both. Therefore, Vázquez’s net balance at that time (+24) is greater than that of Lacalle Pou (+11) and that of Mujica (+10). All the other former presidents, including Tabaré Vázquez in his last government, maintained negative balances at this stage of the period.
Comparison of the evaluation of the president’s management in the same period of government
Regarding the evaluation of the president’s performance in different segments of Uruguayan society, the judgments are relatively homogeneous, although there are some significant differences. Approval of Lacalle Pou is higher among men than among women. Among the former, it has a balance of clearly favorable judgments (50% approve, 31% disapprove).
Among women, on the other hand, the balance is much more balanced (40% approve, 36% disapprove). On the other hand, there are also significant differences depending on the region of residence. In the interior, the gap between approval and disapproval is very wide (48% to 30%), while in the capital there is an almost perfect balance (39% and 38% respectively).
However, no significant differences were observed according to the socioeconomic level of the respondents. The judgments about the work of Lacalle Pou are mostly homogeneous in the different segments.
