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Bolsonaro’s Pension, Gun Measures Opposed by Most Brazilians

Bolsonaro’s Pension, Gun Measures Opposed by Most Brazilians

(Bloomberg) -- A majority of Brazilians are unhappy with the interference of President Jair Bolsonaro’s family in state affairs, an opinion poll showed on Tuesday.

Over 75 percent of those surveyed said they believed that family members should not influence a president, while over 56 percent said they believed Bolsonaro’s sons were interfering in his decision-making, according to an opinion survey conducted by polling firm MDA and contracted by the National Transport Confederation.

Flavio, Carlos, and Eduardo Bolsonaro are politicians in their own right, but none have any formal role in government. Nevertheless, they are hugely influential. Carlos Bolsonaro recently used social media to call a cabinet minister a liar -- days later he was fired. On a visit to New York this weekend Eduardo Bolsonaro declared his support for President Donald Trump’s proposal to build a wall on the U.S’s southern border even though Brazil has no official position on the subject. The presidential palace did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the sons’ role.

The former Army captain’s personal approval rating is 57.5 percent the poll showed, just marginally above the 55 percent he garnered in a run-off election last October. He swept to power largely on tough talk against corruption and crime amid widespread discontent with Brazil’s political elites. Since taking office on Jan. 1, his government has been rattled by a cabinet crisis and presented Congress with a sweeping proposal to cut pension benefits.

His recent decree to ease rules on carrying guns is disapproved by 52.6 percent, and slightly more people reject than support plans presented to Congress to introduce a minimum retirement age and toughen access to pension benefits, the survey revealed.

The MDA poll surveyed 2002 people between February 21 and 23 has a margin of error of
more or less 2.2 percentage points.

To contact the reporter on this story: Simone Iglesias in Brasília at spiglesias@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Raymond Colitt at rcolitt@bloomberg.net, Bruce Douglas, Matthew Malinowski

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