Half of Brazilians expect acting president to continue serving poll

Brazil's interim President Michel Temer reacts during ceremony for the new rules of the program "Minha Casa Minha Vida" at the Planalto Palace in Brasilia, Brazil July 14, 2016. [Photo/Agencies]

RIO DE JANEIRO - Half of Brazilians hope interim President Michel Temer to continue serving while nearly a third of them want suspended President Dilma Rousseff to return, a poll said Sunday.

Rousseff was suspended on May 12 when the Senate voted to put her on trial. She was replaced by Temer, her former deputy.

Another four percent of the surveyed were against both leaders and 3 percent favored holding new elections. Some nine percent declined to answer, the poll said.

The survey also asked respondents to rate Temer's first two months in office, which 14 percent considered "good," 42 percent described as "so so," and 31 percent rated as "bad," with 13 percent declining to comment.

The survey, carried out by polling firm Datafolha and published by the regional daily Folha de Sao Paulo, 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 Jan 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 percent of Brazilians approved of the interim government led by Temer.

Even as recently as June 27, a survey showed that 70 percent of Brazilians disapproved of the acting president.