A survey commissioned by television programme Xarabank has revealed a considerable shift towards the Malta Labour Party in answers given by respondents who were asked which party they would vote for if an election were to be held tomorrow.
The survey, which was carried out by telephone between 19 and 22 February, revealed that 37.9 per cent said they would vote for the Labour Party, 29.9 per cent would vote PN, and 1.7 per cent would vote Alternattiva Demokratika – the green party. A good 30.5 per cent said they were still undecided or said they would not vote.
If one were to eliminate those who were still undecided or would not vote, the results would show a 54.5 per cent majority who would vote MLP and 43.1 per cent would vote PN. AD’s stake of the votes stood at 2.4 per cent.
Asked whom they had voted for in the 2003 general election, 33.9 per cent said they had voted for the Nationalist Party, 39.5 said they had voted Labour, 1.1 per cent voted Alternattiva Demokratika while over 25 per cent said they did not want to reveal who they had voted for.
Comparing the figures of the results of these two questions, 3.3 per cent of Nationalists would now vote Labour while 2.9 per cent of Labourites would vote PN and 1.4 per cent would vote AD. 13.3 per cent of Nationalists said they would not vote while only 10 per cent of Labour supporters said they would not vote if an election were to be held tomorrow.
The survey also revealed that the majority of people questioned expressed their worry on the rise in the cost of living. When asked what was bothering them most, 17.5 per cent of respondents said it was the cost of living, 7.9 per cent said nothing was bothering them, others mentioned the environment, a lack of employment opportunities and the water and electricity bills.
Asked about whom they would trust as prime minister, 37.9 per cent mentioned MLP leader Alfred Sant, 30.5 per cent mentioned Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi, 29.9 per cent said they would not trust anyone else while 1.7 per cent said they would trust the country’s leadership in the hands of AD chairman Harry Vassallo.
Cross-tabulated with the results of the voting patterns, 7.5 per cent of those who would vote PN see Dr Sant as their trusted prime minister while of those who would vote MLP, only 1.5 per cent mentioned Dr Gonzi. However, 13.4 per cent of the current MLP voters said they would trust someone else as Prime Minister.
Among those who said they would not vote, 11.1 per cent mentioned Dr Sant and 9.3 per cent mentioned Dr Gonzi.
When asked about the introduction of divorce, 64.4 per cent said they disagreed with its introduction, 33.3 per cent agreed and 2.3 per cent were undecided. On hunting and trapping, 61 per cent agreed that the government should protect the traditional hobbies while 36.7 per cent disagreed. The rest were undecided.
On the introduction of the euro, 65.5 per cent of respondents said they believed prices would rise while 34.5 per cent thought prices would remain as they were. Replying to a question about the electricity surcharge, 61.6 per cent said the surcharge was not justified by the increase in the international price of oil, 37.3 per cent said it was justified while 1.1 per cent were undecided.
Replying to the final question on whether they were living better or worse, 48.6 per cent said they were living worse than they were last year, 42.9 per cent said they were living on the same level as last year while only 8.5 per cent said they were living a better life.