President Bachelet said that the main emphasis of the budget for 2016 would be placed on social matters to safeguard the public from the repercussions of the global economic slowdown on Chile. The ministerial spokesman, Marcelo Díaz, clarified that this meant education, health, public security and employment. “In life you have to keep pushing ahead ignoring the petty calculations of the few,” Bachelet said in response to withering criticism from the opposition for her to change the government’s course (see sidebar).
The national pollster Adimark showed Bachelet losing two percentage points in August to fall to an approval rating of just 24%. The weekly survey Cadem also put her popularity at 24%, with a disapproval rating of 68%. Only 25% of respondents to the Cadem survey approved of the government’s much-trumpeted education reform, which was opposed by 65%, while 54% felt the proposed labour reform would lead to more unemployment in Chile and only 29% more jobs. A massive 88% disapproved of the government’s performance in confronting crime and 87% its efforts to fight corruption.
End of preview - This article contains approximately 410 words.
Subscribers: Log in now to read the full article
Not a Subscriber?
Choose from one of the following options
