What percentage does the president or the prime minister receive on how he or she has been handling the COVID-19 crisis?
It never crossed our mind that the year 2020- the year of COVID-19 would become the litmus test* for the presidents and prime ministers of the various countries where this pandemic has led to a certain degree of economic disaster; and truthfully, has chalked millions of positive cases, leading to the many deaths of people around the world.
As the World Health Organization proclaimed that COVID-19 was a pandemic on March 11, 2020, world leaders were caught with various reactions to face the worldwide onslaught of the invisible microbe which would stipple the economy; would dislocate priorities; would expose those countries with less medical preparedness, and would test the leadership of the governing leader.
In truth, COVID-19 is the real litmus test* for government leaders, on how they had responded on the announcement by the World Health Organization that COVID-19 was a pandemic on March 11, 2020 and what percentage of approval or disapproval on handling the COVID-19!
I am just presenting the percentage of approval garnered by some presidents and prime ministers after some polling companies engaged in measuring the kind of leadership shown in responding to the COVID-19 outbreak.
N.B.: These rankings of our world leaders are based on some polling companies serving in the said countries. (Some countries did not specify the exact percentage of approval. Not included in this column is the percentage of disapproval from the opposition parties and from some critics. And also some world leaders whose percentages are combined with previous performance and the COVID-19 crisis.
The list includes:
Mette Fredericksen (Denmark) – 79%
Angela Markel (Germany) – 75%
Giuseppe Conte (Italy) – 73%
Boris Johnson (United Kingdom) – 70%
Justin Trudeau (Canada) – 64%
Donald Trump (USA) – 49%
Emmanuel Marcon (France) -44%
Andres Ovrador (Mexico) – 37%
Other presidents and prime ministers who have no clear percentages although their performances are commended by other world leaders are worth mentioning the like of Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern of New Zealand and President Tsai Ing-Wen of Taiwan. Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has a high percentage but equated by other factors. Some other world leaders like Russia’s Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping of China do not have a percentage of approval or disapproval.
Hoping to publish in the coming issue the percentage rankings of other world leaders on how they responded to COVID-19 pandemic.
(*Scientifically, it is a test of acidity and alkalinity; politically or socially, it is the decisively indicative test. A terminology used as a metaphor in ranking or measuring the decisive actions by an individual towards an event or a dire situation.)
