Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has garnered a 41 percent approval rating since taking office on Jan 1 for a third term, an opinion poll has shown. The survey, conducted by pollster IPEC (Intelligence in Research and Strategic Consulting) and published Sunday by news outlet O Globo, showed Lula enjoys higher approval than his predecessor Jair Bolsonaro (2019-2022) did at the start of his term (34 percent). Some 41 percent of those surveyed rated his administration as “good” or “excellent,” and 30 percent rated it as “regular,” said IPEC. Lula received better ratings at the start of his two previous terms with 51 percent approval in 2003 and 49 percent in 2007, the pollster noted. IPEC’s executive director, Marcia Cavallari, told O Globo that the Brazilian president’s approval is at a “good level,” because half of the respondents who rated his administration as “regular,” approve of the way he is governing. The survey shows Brazil’s northeast region, the poorest in the country, is where the president has the highest approval rating, with 53 percent of respondents describing his administration as “good” or “excellent.”