(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - For the first time since she took office, the approval rating of Chilean president Michelle Bachelet has fallen below the 40 per cent mark, according to a poll by Adimark Gfk. 39.1 per cent of respondents have a positive opinion of the president’s performance, down 2.4 points since July.

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, defeating conservative Sebastián Piñera of National Renewal (RN). 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, and more recently street demonstrations in Santiago, the capital city, over the botched implementation of a new transportation program.

On Sept. 4, Bachelet signed a free trade agreement with Japan, saying, "I hope that Chile can serve as a gateway for Japan to the rest of Latin America. (...) The world’s political and economic centre has shifted from the trans-Atlantic to the Asia-Pacific region, and I expect our relationship with Asia will get closer over several decades."

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

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