Santiago de Chile, June 16 (teleSUR-RHC)-- Chilean Senator Isabel Allende criticized President Michelle Bachelet for failing to engage in dialogue with members of civil society as well as calling for greater transparency within the Bachelet administration.

“People are taking to the streets because they feel it is the only way to be heard and this seems brutal to me. We have to find ways to create space where we can have conversations,” Allende stated Sunday during a televised interview.

Allende went on to note that is the responsibility of all civil servants to address the current political crisis facing the country. "We must provide answers to our constituency base, we are not being transparent,” Allende stated.

The 70-year-old politician, who is the daughter of late socialist President Salvador Allende, has been rumored to be a possible presidential candidate in the next elections and has assumed the Presidency of the Socialist Party, of which Bachelet is also a member.

Allende has herself been criticized by social movements for her disparaging remarks regarding other left-wing governments in the region, including Venezuela. In recent weeks, the president's popularity has dropped to record lows as her government has been weighed down by a series of scandals, as well as poor public perception of the handling of a series of natural disasters in the country.

According to a poll released on Monday by Plaza Cadem, Chilean President Michelle Bachelet’s approval ratings fell to 24 percent, marking the lowest levels since she was first elected. The recent corruption scandals have tainted the reputation of political parties across the political spectrum, and particularly the government, which has introduced several anti-corruption measures that seek to increase transparency in funding political activity and that are set to be implemented starting 2015.