Health and Energy Minister Konrad Mizzi has succeeded President Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca as the best-performing member of cabinet, a survey commissioned by The Malta Independent shows.
For the May edition of the ISurvey, 300 respondents were asked to state who the best-performing minister or parliamentary secretary was.
The same question had also been asked in March, and on that occasion, Ms Coleiro Preca – then Social Solidarity Minister – topped the list by far. She was mentioned by 34.7% of respondents, accounting for 53.9% of those who answered the question, while Dr Mizzi lagged far behind with 10.4%.
But Ms Coleiro Preca’s elevation to the Presidency appears to have paved the way for Dr Mizzi to rise up the charts. While 42% did not name a cabinet member, Dr Mizzi was deemed to be the best-performing minister by 52.3% of the rest, easily outperforming his colleagues.
The reduction in utility bills and the subsequent reduction in petrol and LPG prices – which were prominently mentioned during the European Parliament election campaign – may have helped raise the minister’s stature.
Prime Minister Joseph Muscat was a distant second with 11.5%, followed by Transport Minister Joe Mizzi with 6.9%. Justice Minister Owen Bonnici (6.3%) and Education Minister Evarist Bartolo (5.7%) round off the top five.
There is a somewhat significant gap between Mr Bartolo and sixth-placed Foreign Minister George Vella, who was mentioned by 2.3% of those who answered the question, and the further one goes down the list, the more the survey’s inherent margin of error may have an effect.
Four members of cabinet ended up receiving no mentions whatsoever in the survey, including three parliamentary secretaries who were only appointed to cabinet last March: Justyne Caruana, Michael Falzon and Chris Fearne.
Somewhat surprisingly, however, they are joined by Finance Minister Edward Scicluna.
Bartolo appeals to PN voters
Dr Mizzi topped the list among those who voted for both the Labour and the Nationalist parties in last year’s general election, but Labour voters were far more likely to suggest his name.
The minister was said to be the best-performing minister by 62.5% of PL voters who answered the question, but only 37% of PN voters.
Dr Muscat, perhaps unsurprisingly, was also a considerably more popular choice among PL voters. While 12.5% of them picked the Prime Minister, only 3.7% of PN voters said that he was the best-performing member of cabinet.
On the other hand, 13% of PN voters mentioned Education Minister Evarist Bartolo, who was only deemed to be the best-performing minister by 2.3% of Labour voters.
While Mr Bartolo has long been elected from the 10th electoral district, one of the PN’s strongholds, two others who performed relatively well among PN voters hail from districts which returned four Labour MPs to parliament last year.
Both Justice Minister Owen Bonnici and Transport Minister Joe Mizzi were deemed to be the best-performing minister by 9.3% of PN voters who answered the question, compared to just 4.5% of Labour voters.
The discrepancy, however, may be partly attributable to the very high proportion of Labour voters who picked the energy minister instead.