Portuguese PM unpopular after two years in power - poll

Portuguese Prime Minister Jose Manuel Durao Barroso yesterday marked two years in power as a poll showed that close to half the population think he is doing a worse job than his Socialist predecessor Antonio Guterres.

The survey, published by the financial daily Jornal de Negocios, found that around 48 per cent of respondents rated the current government as worse than the previous.

Portugal has seen repeated protest and strikes over government labour reforms and cost-cutting policies designed to keep a lid on its public deficit, which breached European Union limits in 2001, and make its lagging economy more competitive.

Speaking after a cabinet meeting, Durao Barroso pledged to pursue structural reforms.

"Nothing and nobody will divert us from the path we have traced, a path based on discipline, a path based on a concern with increasing economic efficiency but never at the cost of reducing welfare protection," he told a news conference.

His comments contrasted with a public perception that the government was riding roughshod over popular concerns.

Some 68 per cent of those polled by Jornal de Negocios saw the government as authoritarian, with just 22 per cent considering that it favoured dialogue.

The survey questioned 600 people between March 30 and April 1 and had a margin of error of 0.02 per cent.