Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1487299
15 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 4 DECEMBER 2022 MALTATODAY SURVEY It is unclear whether the abortion debate has helped consolidate the PN's support, and consequently bolster Bernard Grech's trust rating KURT SANSONE THE Labour Party has lost three points when compared to October and support now stands at 36.4%, its low- est since the election, MaltaToday's December survey shows. The PL has lost almost eight points since May as it remains caught up in a downward spiral. On the opposite side of the spectrum, the Nationalist Party gains just over four points since October to register 24.2%. The uptick reverses the PN's downward spiral since the election but support is still below the July level when it scored 25.8%. The gap between the parties now stands at 12.2 points. ADPD sheds one point to register 2.3%, while other parties feature with 0.8%. Non-voters remain relatively sta- ble at 22.2%, while uncertain voters de- crease by almost two points to 13.2%. The survey was carried out between 22 November and 1 December, coin- ciding with government's decision to put forward an amendment to intro- duce exceptions to Malta's strict an- ti-abortion law. The amendment was presented by ministers Chris Fearne and Jonathan Attard on 16 November and the par- liamentary debate started on 28 No- vember. It is unlikely the abortion debate is the sole reason for the PL's loss of sup- port, given that the decline is a con- tinuation of a trend that started after the general election. Additionally, if abortion has harmed the PL, this does not appear to be the case for Robert Abela whose trust rating has increased despite taking a leading role in putting forward the abortion amendment. It is also unclear whether the abor- tion debate has helped consolidate the PN's support, and consequently bol- ster Bernard Grech's trust rating. The PN and Grech have come out against the amendment. PN gains from Labour The PN gains 1.3% of Labour election voters and loses nothing to its political adversary, while it registers a reten- tion rate of 67.5%, an increase of nine points over October. The Opposition party also sees a decline in the number of 2022 voters who say they will not vote. The December survey shows that 16.2% of PN voters will not vote if an election is held now. Just two months ago, this figure stood at 21.1%. The PL's retention rate stands at 76.7%, a significant decrease of six points and the number of voters who now say they will not vote increases by two points to 9.9%. PL beats PN in four of six regions A breakdown of the survey results shows the PL beating the PN among men and women, across all age groups and in four of the six regions. The PL's support among voters aged between 16 and 35 is double that of the PN – the PL scores 31.7% against the PN's 16.1%. The shortest distance between the two major parties is among pensioners (65+) where a four-point gap separates them. The PL scores 34.5%, while the PN scores 13.8%. On a regional basis, the PN beats La- bour in the Northern region (30.5% versus 28.1%) and the Northern Har- bour region (32.7% versus 30.6%). However, in all other regions, the PL forges ahead with substantially healthy margins. The biggest difference is in the South-Eastern region, where the PN only registers 9.3% against the PL's 49.1%. Labour support is lowest since election as PN reverses downward trend