May 05, 2008

Abstract: (Angus Reid Global Monitor) - Chilean president Michelle Bachelet has gained popular backing over the past few months, according to a poll by CERC. 50 per cent of respondents approve of Bachelet’s performance, up four points since December.

(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - Chilean president Michelle Bachelet has gained popular backing over the past few months, according to a poll by CERC. 50 per cent of respondents approve of Bachelet’s performance, up four points since December.

Bachelet—a former defence minister—was elected in a January 2006 run-off as the candidate for the centre-left Agreement of Parties for Democracy (CPD) with 53.49 per cent of all cast ballots. She officially took over as president in March 2006.

Since taking office, Bachelet has faced massive protests staged by high school students complaining about the poor quality of public education, as well as street demonstrations in Santiago, the capital city, over the botched implementation of a new transportation program called Transantiago.

On Apr. 23, a group of 23 environmental organizations withdrew its support for Bachelet’s government, saying the president broke a pact signed in 2005 which included a pledge to never consider developing nuclear energy in Chile.

In March 2007, during a national energy crisis, Bachelet’s government set up the "Working Group on Nuclear Power"—a presidential commission charged with researching technology in the nuclear industry—and gave it a budget of close to $218,000 U.S. The group of 23 organizations said that relations are not completely broken, but that they will be "more selective" on their support for the government from now on.

Government spokesman Francisco Vidal said that "the government’s door has always been open to the country’s environmental groups" and that it will remain that way, adding, "If the ecologists believe that by abandoning the CPD and moving closer to the right-wing opposition they will obtain environmental sustainability, may God help them."

Polling Data

Do you approve or disapprove of the performance of Michelle Bachelet as president?

	Apr. 2008	Dec. 2007	Oct. 2007
Approve	50%	46%	48%
Disapprove	41%	45%	44%

Source: Centro de Estudios de la Realidad Contemporánea (CERC)
Methodology: Interviews with 1,200 Chilean adults, conducted from Apr. 1 to Apr. 8, 2008. Margin of error is 2.3 per cent.