A new public opinion poll shows that Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's popularity has fallen but remains strong despite a bribes-for-votes scandal surrounding his government.
The Datafolha poll shows the number of people who believe the president is honest has fallen 11 percentage points in little more than a month to 62 percent. Mr. da Silva himself has not been accused of wrongdoing.
The survey also says the government's approval rating remains nearly unchanged, dropping one percentage point to 35 percent. The Datafolha company polled more than 2,000 Brazilians for the survey.
The scandal erupted when the ruling Workers Party was accused of paying lawmakers $12,000 a month to win their support. The party denies the allegations, which caused some government officials to step down.
Despite the scandal, surveys have shown that Mr. da Silva is still the favorite to win the 2006 presidential election.