Survey says most Venezuelans want President Maduro's ouster

Survey shows Venezuelan President Maduro's rating dropped to 26.8 percent in March this year compared to 33.1 percent in February.

Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro speaks during a meeting with ministers in Caracas.
TRT World and Agencies

Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro speaks during a meeting with ministers in Caracas.

A latest survey shows that the popularity graph for Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is on a steady decline as an increasing number of Venezuelans struggle to afford the basic necessities of life amid the crippling economic crisis.

According to the survey conducted by Datanalisis, Maduro witnessed his rating drop to 26.8 percent in March this year compared to 33.1 percent in February. The opposition has also been pushing hard for the removal of embattled President.

The survey was conducted in the backdrop of Venezuelans facing shortages of basic necessities like bread and antibiotics besides experiencing a steep rate of inflation, frequent and increasing power and water cuts.

The country's state-adopted model has negative aspects, as in March some 68.9 percent (63.6 in February) Venezuelans want Maduro to step down this year or be made to quit through a recall referendum before his office term expires in 2019.

The Democratic Unity coalition has stepped up its campaign towards the ouster of the 53-year-old former bus driver and union leader. Only this week the opposition surmounted an obstacle towards holding a recall referendum.

In March as many as 57.3 percent Venezuelans (52.1 in February) expressed their wish to vote Maduro out of power in case a referendum is not held.

The opposition blamed Maduro's government for the current economic crisis and linked any kind of improvement to the ouster of the incumbent president who rose to power through a narrow win in 2013 election.

However, President Nicolas Maduro snubbed the intentions of his removal and ridiculed his political opponents as divided, coup-mongering elitists.

The Venezuelan bolivar suffered a sharp decline during Maduro's government and it has dropped about 98 percent against the dollar on the black market rate.

As many as 1000 Venezuelans took part in the survey that was carried out from March 4 to 14. They survey has a 3.04 percent margin of error.

Route 6