MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Public support for Bachelet reaches 59%

Public support for Chilean President Michelle Bachelet's government now stands at 59%, according to the latest survey carried out by the Center for Studies of Contemporary Reality (CERC). This represents a 2% increase in support since August.

CERC director Carlos Huneeus explained, however, that the survey of 1,200 people was carried out in early October, before news of the Chiledeportes scandal broke on October 19. The survey has a 2.34 percent margin of error.

Secretary-general Ricardo Lagos Weber said government policy is not to comment on surveys, but went on to say that the level of support for Bachelet is "fantastic."

"We've come up against some difficult situations," said Lagos Weber, "but the important thing is that when you go around planting seeds, bit by bit you start to see the forest growing."

The survey also showed an increase in support for the governing Concertación coalition, the four-party alliance that has ruled Chile since the nation's transition to democracy first began in 1990.

The survey also asked participants which political figure has the most future in the country. Former Renovacion Nacional (RN) presidential candidate Sebastián Piñera emerged as the leader in this area, with 37% of responses in his favor, an increase of 11 points since October.

Piñera overtook Christian Democrat Sen. Soledad Alvear, who placed second. Former president Ricardo Lagos Escobar, former presidential candidate Joaquín Lavín and minister Lagos Weber occupied third, fourth and fifth places, respectively.

The increase in popularity of former rightist presidential candidates Piñera and Lavín was interpreted by the rightist Alliance coalition as an indication of support for its role as opposition to the government.

"People are seeing how important it is to have alternations in power," said RN president Carlos Larraín. "We need to make change, not just on a superficial level, but deep down."

Participants in the CERC survey were asked about current affairs, including their perception of the presidents of neighboring countries. Brazil's president Lula da Silva emerged as the "most friendly towards Chile," followed by Venezuela's Hugo Chavez and Peru's Alan García.

When asked their opinion on the Ministry of Health's decision to give the morning-after pill to girls aged over 14 without their parents' consent, 48% of those surveyed said they supported the policy, while 46% were against it. The Santiago Times