Survey Shows 79 Percent of Rio Residents Favor Governor Witzel’s Impeachment

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The image of Governor Wilson Witzel is definitively on the wane among the population of the city of Rio. After his removal was confirmed by the Federal Superior Court (STJ), the Paraná Research Institute conducted a survey in the capital of the state of Rio de Janeiro to determine whether its residents are for or against the governor’s impeachment.

According to the survey, 79.1 percent of Rio denizens favor Wilson Witzel’s impeachment and 14.5 percent are against it. A total of 6.4 percent of respondents either do not know or have no opinion.

Among those in favor of Witzel’s impeachment, the highest rates are recorded among men (82.6 percent), people aged 25 to 34 (81.5 percent), and those with higher education (83.4 percent). Among those who say they are against his impeachment, there are women (16.4 percent), people aged 60 years or older (15.4 percent), and who have studied until elementary school (18.2 percent).

A total of 1,226 residents of Rio de Janeiro were interviewed by telephone between September 1st and 3rd. The survey’s reliability level is 95 percent and the estimated error margin is three percent, plus or minus.

Witzel was removed from office for six months by a judicial decision, after complaints that he was involved in a major corruption scheme in Rio’s health secretariat, at the height of the Coronavirus pandemic. Vice-Governor Claudio Castro, who is also a target of these investigations, has assumed his seat as chief executive.