In many countries, if six cabinet ministers were forced to resign in less than a year because of corruption allegations, you’d expect that voters would be baying for the political blood of the top boss too. But not in Brazil. President Dilma Rousseff is not just surviving but doing better than anyone imagined. Her popularity is rising. Her approval rating hit 70% recently as the Brazilian public has been pleased with the way she has cleaned house. Voters seem to be ignoring the fact that the ousted ministers are all people who she chose to surround herself with.

The seventh and most recent cabinet victim (the sixth one accused of corruption) was labour minister Carlos Lupi. He resigned this week over allegations that he accepted a free jet ride from a businessman whose company had picked up government contracts from Lupi’s ministry. Ex-minister Lupi issued a statement denying the charges, saying that he is the victim of “political and personal persecution by the media.”

The video below from Al-Jazeera English recaps the anti-corruption drive in Brazil, naming some of the other top politicians to be forced out of office, while describing how an active and energised public has been instrumental in making change happen.

The video is about three weeks old, so towards the end the reporter will refer to fresh allegations against Labour Minister Lupi. As stated above, those allegations have since become a public noose around his neck, and he is now gone from his post.

Brazilians have stood-up and said they have zero tolerance for corruption, and in response President Rousseff seems to have initiated a zero-tolerance policy. Could the same thing ever happen here in Pakistan?

Click play to watch the video:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KtEu2l45MXg[/youtube]