SANTIAGO (Reuters) – Disapproval of Chilean President Michelle Bachelet reached an historic high of 70 per cent in July, as her government scaled back its reform program and struggled with a sluggish economy, an opinion poll showed yesterday.
Bachelet’s disapproval rating jumped from 68 per cent in June, according to a survey by pollster GfK Adimark. It was the worst figure for any president since Adimark began doing such surveys in 2006.
The president’s approval rating fell to 26 per cent in July from 27 per cent in June. “In July, the distance between the government and its citizens that we have seen in the past 12 months deepened, and this has been intensifying since the beginning of this year,” the pollster said in its report.
Left-leaning Bachelet led Chile, the world’s top copper exporter, from 2006 to 2010 and took office for her second term in March 2014. Though she began her mandate with an approval rating of 54 per cent, Chileans have soured on the president as slow economic growth and scandals involving money in politics have marred her message of addressing deep inequality.
July marked the first time since Bachelet returned to power that more Chileans said they identified with ‘opposition to the government’ (34 per cent) rather than the government (32 per cent). However, opposition is scattered and the main political opposition bloc, the right-wing Alianza, has even lower approval ratings than the government. Adimark noted that the government scaled back part of its reform program in July, with Bachelet saying an economic slowdown meant it would need to prioritize some policy decisions over others.
