Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1068299
14 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 6 JANUARY 2019 SURVEY In 2019 • What people are thinking Will Joseph go or will he stay? Majority say no. KURT SANSONE JOSEPH Muscat holds the key to his future as Labour Party leader but a majority believe he will not go in 2019, a MaltaToday survey found. The Prime Minister had pledged in the last election to stand down as leader of the PL before the next general election. That promise has been cause for countless specula- tion as to when Muscat will step down, if at all. Electoral success in the European Parliament election in May could provide Muscat with the right con- text to step aside in the six months that follow. However, this will also depend on whether the Prime Min- ister's aspirations for a European post are realisable or not. Whatever the context, however, 44.2% of people polled by Malta- Today do not believe Muscat will resign from PL leader in 2019, con- trary to the 20.7% who do. A large segment (35.1%) were un- sure what to believe. The survey was carried out be- tween 6 and 14 December and polled 597 respondents. As expected, people who voted for the PL in the last election where more likely not to believe that 2019 could be the year in which Muscat calls it a day. Half of those who voted PL (50.5%) do not believe Muscat will resign this year as opposed to 19.7% of PL voters who think the Prime Minis- ter will make the decision in 2019. Among Nationalist Party voters, the belief that Muscat will leave this year is higher at 23.9%. But a third of PN voters (33.4%) think Muscat will not resign in 2019. A majority (42.7%) are unsure what to believe. Men are more confident than women that Muscat will call it a day in 2019 (18.6% and 14.2% respec- tively). But women are more unsure of what to believe than man (55.4% and 44% respectively). People living in the Northern Har- bour region are most likely to be- lieve that 2019 will be Muscat's last as Labour leader with 20.4% saying he will resign in the next 12 months. The unbelievers are mostly found in the Northern region where 10.4% think Muscat will leave. Do you think Joseph Muscat will resign in 2019?