MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Poor polls showing; Chilean government admits “corrections”

A recent Adimark poll revealed Friday that Chilean President Michelle Bachelet's approval ratings fell to 44.2% during the month of June. In response to this development, Interior Minister Andrés Zaldívar recognized Saturday the need for significant “corrections” in government policy.

June marks the second straight month of dwindling public support for Bachelet. Her approval rating dropped by 11% in May and ended up at 56% as she completed her first 100 days in office, according to polls published in the Santiago conservative newspapers La Tercera and El Mercurio.

Experts attribute the most recent drop to Bachelet's handling of the secondary school protests, the citizen insecurity engendered by a string of high-profile robberies, and an overall inability to carry through with her political agenda. Heavy media scrutiny of these problems, accompanied by social factors such as machismo, may also play a role in the lower approval rating.

Bachelet's fall in popularity represents the fastest deterioration of this kind during the rule of any of the four ruling coalition Concertación presidents, and it prompted self-criticism amongst many in La Moneda (Government House).

"We have passed through a very difficult time because the country has recently lived through several social conflicts. This often leads to a fall in approval, and I respect the opinion of the people as well as the political opposition. I think that we have to think about how to come back strong, and I also think that these problems will be corrected," said Chilean Interior Minister Andrés Zaldívar.

"This government has to be more in touch and active in accomplishing (Bachelet's) plans?it is very important that citizens know that we are fulfilling our promises," he said.

"I am very concerned. The Concertación government should show more order and govern better," confessed Jorge Burgos, vice-president of the Christian Democratic Party (DC), one of the four parties comprising the Concertaciòn ruling coalition.

Still, Bachelet was not the only politician who lost significant ground; the results of the same study also indicated that the approval rating of the opposition parties fell 10 percent to a dismal 21.8 percent during the same time period.

"The political opposition has to challenge the (Concertación) government with more rigour. It also has to propose solutions in areas in which the government does not know what to do" said Sebastian Piñera (RN), the ex-presidential Conservative candidate.

"We have realized that we did not act well during the last few months," said Christián Monckeberg, RN party Secretary General.

By Matt Malinowski (editor@santiagotimes.cl)