Chile's Bachelet Bows Out after Turbulent Second Term.

AutorWitte-Lebhar, Benjamin

As the storm clouds of the global financial crisis of 2007-2008 began to dissipate and Chileans took stock of their situation, most felt that the country had fared surprisingly well, that things could have been far worse. Michelle Bachelet, then in her first term as president (2006-2010), saw her popularity numbers soar as a result and, by the time she left office, had a gaudy 80% approval rating (NotiSur, Jan 22, 2010).

Eight years later--on March 11--the center-left leader completed her second term after returning to the presidency in 2014. Only this time around, there is a sense among many--including Bachelet's allies and supporters--that things could have gone much better, that the results of her encore performance failed to match the high expectations.

There are some, of course, who have always despised Bachelet, and for them, the past four years were an unmitigated disaster. Others continue to adore her and will forever celebrate her efforts and accomplishments. It's to the people in the middle, therefore, that pundits look as they try to assess Bachelet's second-term and gauge her overall legacy. And the story there--at least as far as poll numbers are concerned--is that after welcoming Bachelet back into the presidency with open arms, middle-of-the-road voters turned on her.

Upon leaving office this month, Bachelet's approval rating stood at approximately 40%, just half of what it was at the end of her first term. Until recently the numbers were even worse, dipping to just 20% at one point, a post-dictatorship record. There's also the unavoidable fact that Bachelet again ceded the presidency to the political right--and again to the same person: billionaire businessman Sebastian Pinera.

The three center-left presidents who preceded Bachelet following Chile's return to democracy in 1990 all handed the presidency off to members of the same coalition, known as the Concertacion (NotiSur, Jan. 14, 1994, and Jan. 21, 2000). Bachelet --the fourth and final Concertacion representative elected president--was the only to win a second term (NotiSur, Dec. 20, 2013). And yet, twice she failed to protect the line of political succession.

"The best way Bachelet could have carried her program into the future was for someone from her coalition to win. But that didn't happen," political scientist and New York University professor Patricio Navia said in a recent interview with the digital news publication El Libero. "Pinera wouldn't exist as president...

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