October 26, 2021

06:10

Priscilla Peixoto – from Cenarium

MANAUS – A qualitative research, entitled ‘Political Narrative: Manauara Elector’s Speech for the 2022 Election’, focused on analyzing the profile of electorate manauara, made available, on Monday, 25, relevant information that helps to understand the current perceptions and positions of the population in relation to the current political scenario. The survey was produced and published by the website O Convergente and aimed to show the expectations, desires and demands of voters before, during and after the election campaign.

According to the person responsible for the analysis, Érica Lima, the survey conducted throughout 2020 and in the first half of 2021 helps in the understanding of the motivations, the attitudes, and the reasons that lead the voting public to define their preference and/or rejection. “Already thinking about next year’s scenario, we bring some of this study developed in this period because of the pandemic and the current influence of social networks”, explains Erica.

Érica highlights that the study acts as a thermometer where the results of the focus groups serve to give a direction to the communication strategy and electoral campaign, taking into account how the population thinks about their daily lives and their desires. “Thinking about a campaign next year is to think about what people really need. And our study is the tool in this direction”, explains Erica.

Relevant data

The research highlights factors such as the pandemic scenario triggered by Covid-19, followed by the impacts, expectations, and measures related to the local and national political scenario. The search for a third way and not identifying a political force of innovation for the current moment is one of the points revealed in the studies.

“I believe this is a great finding, because until then we always talked about polarization, right and left voters, but with the economic dissatisfactions and the current scenario we are living, the voter tends to be worn out with both Jair Bolsonaro and the figure of Lula who represents the left. (…) Something interesting that the survey showed is that if we were talking about an election in mid-July, Sergio Moro would be the president of the country, looking at a picture of that moment, within the perceptions of a public of the city of Manaus”, reveals Érica.

“Predominantly, what most influences and feeds the backstage of politics, in the state of Amazonas, is WhatsApp and the groups contained therein, and also the news portals followed by Facebook. Including, there will be a great growth of these portals created to specifically move news to certain candidates”, says Lima.

From the speeches analyzed, Erica points out a detail that draws attention to the use of these social tools. According to the responsible for the analysis, in relation to WhatsApp groups, the right has much more control and expertise on the subject, while the left has not yet understood the relevance of the tool. Although it has a history of strong militancy in Brazil, it is distant from the digital issue when the initiative is focused on the party’s objectives and even on fighting fake news.

Disappointment and hopelessness regarding the Bolsonaro government

During the survey, when it comes to the Bolsonaro government, a great part of the population has disapproved of the current government. Among the most recurrent mentions, in all interviewed groups, are: “Brazil is broken”, “crisis”, “poverty”, “hunger”, “pandemic”, “tax”, “genocidal”, “deforestation”, and “vaccine”.

“Much of this disappointment is due to the Bolsonaro way of being, but they still understand the president with the act related to good people and this weighs, for sure”, the researcher points out.

The themes of politics and the economy show dissatisfaction on the part of the majority of the interviewees, resulting in a negative evaluation of the country’s situation. “In all groups, there was reference to a context of accentuated corruption, bad administration, increased unemployment and inflation. Associated with this, a feeling of uncertainty”, reads the text.

Wilson X Amazonino Mendes X Eduardo Braga X David Almeida

According to the survey, the public’s rejection of the governor of Amazonas, WilsonLima, suffered a reduction. One of the factors for the reduction of rejection are the social actions and intense campaigns of vaccination and combat against the Covid-19 that brings to the population a new look to the current management. The CPI of the Pandemic also corroborated to transfer part of the problems to the Federal Government.

Despite adding almost all the requirements that denote experience, Amazonino Mendes is hindered by age. The sympathy with a possible Mendes campaign, according to Erica Lima’s reading, depends on the choice of vice, bringing the willingness to win, joviality and influence. Bringing together youth and experience could make Amazonino’s campaign a historic one.

When it comes to Eduardo Braga, the evaluation shows that the former governor has a worn-out image, being associated with the old politics. But, he presents a growth in vote transfer in the state’s municipalities. When it comes to David Almeida’s turn, the study highlights the strong influence in social networks and in younger groups because of the Covid-19 vaccination.

“We know that in politics everything changes. David started in a very troubled way. Until then, what has been said behind the scenes is that Almeida has no intention of coming to the State government elections. The great truth is that the population is in search of a kind of savior of the nation”, says the professional.

Senate

Focusing on the Senate, the study shows that Arthur Neto is well evaluated for his previous performance, as senator, and for his paving work in the past administration, as mayor of Manaus. But the highlight goes to Coronel Menezes, who appears as a new option (bet). Omar Aziz presents greater rejection and association with the idea of old politics and corruption.

About the narrative research

The analysis was carried out with several rounds and qualitative groups. A round is worked, on average, with 6 to 8 groups composed of 10 people. “I chose about 4 rounds and each round was carried out with 4 groups composed of 10 people in all the zones of Manaus and, in the great majority, with public C and D”, reveals the professional who has a master’s degree in Health, Society, and Endemics, with a specialty in Oral History.

Érica Lima has worked in qualitative research for eight years and electoral research since 2017. The focus group participants range in age from 20 to 60. For the complete data from the first part of the survey click here.