In the succession of scandals in recent months, none compare in terms of public impact to the case of Alexandra Reis, the former Secretary of State for Finance, who received half a million euros in compensation for leaving TAP. Two ministers were targeted: Pedro Nuno Santos and Fernando Medina. The first resigned, the second resisted. But according to the Portuguese, he should no longer be in government (55%). For TAP CEO Christine Ourmières-Widener, between resigning or being fired, 71% is open to her.
The finance minister has been something of a bombshell for the opposition party as the focus has shifted from former infrastructure minister Pedro Nuno Santos. He was the first to invite Alexandra Reis to Finance, knowing she had left TAP in a legal way, but not knowing why. And that is why, as the PSD repeats over and over again, it is politically reduced. The Aximage barometer for DN, JN and TSF shows that this feeling is in the majority among the Portuguese.
negative feedback
There are far more respondents who disagree with their decision to remain in government (55%) than those who support their decision to remain in office (22%). This reading cuts across all segments of the sample, especially those living in the north (62%), men (60%), the oldest (61%) and those with higher incomes (67%). Only socialist voters give him the benefit of the doubt. But close: 38% also no longer want Medina as a minister.
Taking into account the TAP scandal and the ballast it carried (since he arrived at Finance, he has always been the minister with the worst evaluation in the barometers), it is not surprising that the Portuguese give him: 55% negative banknotes and only 20% positive points, which means a negative balance of 35 points, even worse than that of António Costa. The line, it should be noted, has always been down: Fernando Medina started in April with a negative balance of five points; passed to July 12; and in September there were already 27.
other ministers
-13. The new Minister of Infrastructure, João Galamba, is off to a bad start with a clear negative balance. But it should be noted that the majority (57%) resort to a neutral answer or have no opinion.
-11. Manuel Pizarro, Minister of Health, follows the negative wave and goes from a neutral balance, last September, to minus 11 points. However, there is a positive balance among the elderly.
-7. José Luís Carneiro, head of internal administration, who reached positive ground in July, is now below the waterline. But it also has a positive balance among voters aged 65 and older.
0. The relative discretion of Mariana Vieira da Silva, Minister for the Presidency, will help explain why she remains at a level above her peers. But it is also a victim of the government’s downgrading: from April’s 19 positive balance it goes to zero.
DATA SHEET
The survey was carried out by Aximage on behalf of DN, TSF and JN, with the aim of gauging the opinion of the Portuguese on topics related to current political events.
The fieldwork took place between 10 and 14 January 2023 and collected 805 interviews among people over the age of 18 living in Portugal. Sampling was performed based on quotas, obtained through a matrix intersecting gender, age and region (NUTSII), from the known universe, rebalanced by gender, age group and education. For a probabilistic sample of 805 interviews,
The maximum standard deviation of a proportion is 0.017 (i.e. a “margin of error” – at 95% – of 3.45%).
Responsible for the study: Aximage Comunicação e Imagem, Lda., under the technical direction of Ana Carla Basílio.
Source: DN
