Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1298422
5 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 14 OCTOBER 2020 NEWS Voters in south sound warning for Labour ROBERT Abela may have a growing problem on his hands as support for the Labour Party in its traditional southern strongholds has been waning since June. And the problem appears to be more acute in the Southern Harbour area, which includes the Cottonera, Żabbar, Fgura, Paola, Valletta and Marsa. This region roughly comprises the 2nd electoral district, the 4th, and part of the 1st. In the last general election, the PL carried all three districts with comfortable margins, polling 57.2% in the 1st, 71.2% in the 2nd, and 67.7% in the 4th. A look at the numbers derived from the MaltaToday surveys shows that in June the PL polled 66.1% in the South- ern Harbour region, declining to 61.9% in July. The decline continued in Sep- tember when the party polled 50.8%. In the last survey published on Sun- day, the PL's support dipped below the absolute majority to reach 44.5%. The South-Eastern region tells a sim- ilar story. This region, which includes the localities of Marsaskala, Żejtun, Marsaxlokk, Birżebbuġa and the airport villages, roughly coincides with the 3rd electoral district and the 5th. These dis- tricts are also PL strongholds. In the last general election, the party received the support of 69.9% of the electorate in the 3rd District and 65.7% in the 5th. The PL's decline in the South-Eastern region started after July. Whereas the PL scored 61.1% in the July MaltaToday survey, this dropped to 50.4% by Octo- ber. Of significance is the fact the party's decline in both regions was also reflect- ed in a decline in the Prime Minister's trust rating. In June, Abela's trust rating in the Southern Harbour ran at 75.4%, drop- ping to 52.7% by October. In the South- East, Abela's trust rating went from 75.8% in July to 53.1% in October. The last survey pit Abela against new- ly-elected Nationalist Party leader Ber- nard Grech for the first time. While the surveys show that the PL continues to enjoy strong overall sup- port, the downward trend in its tradi- tional constituencies has caused ripples inside the party. Functionaries at a district level who spoke to MaltaToday on condition of anonymity have pointed towards a number of issues effecting voters in these regions, including rising unem- ployment and housing problems. "The going has not been easy for many and there are more people out of work as a result of the pandemic. There is al- so a growing problem of housing, which has not been helped by government's inability to deliver a single social ac- commodation unit since being elected in 2013," a Labour veteran said. Another pointed out that Labour vot- ers in the districts were feeling let down by their own government. "People feel side-lined and there is a growing feeling that ministers are becoming unreacha- ble," he said. Another issue of concern in the two regions is immigration, especially in localities that house large immigrant communities. The Prime Minister has played the tough card on irregular mi- gration but many feel he has not trans- lated his strong words into remedial ac- tion on the ground. "Robert Abela's words have raised expectations among voters that some- thing will be done about migration and although police patrols have increased in some localities this does not appear enough to allay concerns," a Labour ac- tivist said. He noted that with jobs and incomes under threat people were more likely to take a negative view of migrants and foreigners, a situation that could easily turn into a powder keg if mishandled. More recently, people with elderly rel- atives who died of COVID-19 or con- tracted the infection while in elderly homes are also angry at what they be- lieve is government's mishandling of the situation in care homes. "Generally, people in these regions do not blame government for the surge in coronavirus cases but those who had elderly relatives contract the infection while living in care homes are angry at the lack of effective action shown by government in dealing with these insti- tutions," the same Labour activist said. But there also appears to be a more local problem linked to the way Abela unceremoniously dumped veteran 2nd District MP Joe Mizzi from his Cabinet last January. Mizzi, who has been elected to parlia- ment in every election since 1987, was the third Labour candidate to get elect- ed from the 2nd District after Joseph Muscat and Helena Dalli in the last general election. Muscat and Dalli have since resigned their seat in parliament, leaving the district without a minister. Chris Agius, who was also elected from the district serves as parliamentary sec- retary. "Joe Mizzi is popular on the district and the way he was axed by the Prime Minister for no apparent reason has left many party supporters with a sour taste," a source close to the PL admin- istration said. How Abela will deal with these prob- lems is not easy. He inherited a govern- ment that was at its lowest ebb in Jan- uary and shortly after faced a pandemic of global proportions. Thrust in a prime ministerial role from day one with no chance to make mistakes, Abela needs to reconnect his government with voters' concerns and aspirations. Like his predecessor would attest, tak- ing care of the macro problems must not come at the expense of micro issues that concern people in their everyday lives. Support for the Labour Party in its southern strongholds has been declining since June in what could be a veritable headache for Robert Abela's administration. Kurt Sansone examines the MaltaToday survey numbers