LIMA, Peru, (Reuters) – Peruvian President Ollanta Humala’s approval rating in March dove back down to the lowest levels of his presidency, stung by a political crisis and amid discontent over income distribution, a poll showed yesterday.
Humala’s popularity shed 8 percentage points to fall to 25 percent, according to the Ipsos Peru poll
published in newspaper El Comercio. His approval rate had risen from 25 percent in December to 33 percent in February, buoyed by an international court’s ruling on a maritime dispute with neighboring Chile.
But the boost appears to have been short-lived, and Humala’s slumping popularity comes at a particularly thorny moment for the leader who took power in 2011.
Congress failed to ratify his new Cabinet on Friday as some lawmakers complained it reflected meddling by powerful first lady Nadine Heredia in the government, creating a major political crisis and effectively leaving the government in limbo. Humala has urged Congress to approve his new ministers when it meets again on Monday.
