 This has caused some to consider her "populist", a consideration shared by her predecessor Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.In early 2015, Rousseff's popularity began to decline and in February 2015, a month before the 2015 protests in Brazil began, Rouseff's approval rating dropped 19 points to 23% with 44% disapproving of her.Following 15 March protests, Rouseff's approval rating fell even further to only 13% with a 62% disapproval rating, one of the highest disapproval ratings in the past 20 years of any president.