Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1518324
12 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 31 MARCH 2024 SURVEY JAMES DEBONO jdebono@mediatoday.com.mt MALTATODAY'S Gov- ernment Performance Barometer progressively shows the government im- proving its rating from 2.6 in December to 2.8 in Jan- uary to 2.9 marks now. The latest score repre- sents the highest rating for the government since Mal- taToday introduced this gauge in May 2023. Respondents are asked to give the administration a mark between 0 (very bad) and 5 (very good). The government is given a pass in all demographic groups except current PN voters (1.9), PN voters in the 2022 election (1.9), and those earning more than €4,000 a month (1.7). But significantly the gov- ernment gets a positive rating among non-voters which give it a rating of 2.6 as was the case last month. This suggests that the government's focus on in- flation through an agree- ment with supermarkets and importers aimed at price stability, coupled with budgetary measures aimed at low income earn- ers have partly paid off in restoring the feel-good fac- tor. A breakdown by income shows the government get- ting its best scores among low income earners who are more likely to benefit from these measures. But the government is also highly rated among more affluent categories. The government is giv- en the highest score (3) among those earning less than €1,000 a month, fol- lowed by those earning between €1,001 and €2,000 a month (2.9) and those earning between €3,001 and €4,000 (2.9). But once again the gov- ernment gets its lowest rat- ing among those earning between €2,001 and €3,000 (2.6) and among those earning over €4,000 (1.7). The government also gets a positive rating in all re- gions ranging between 2.6 in the North Harbour to 3.2 in Gozo. Moreover, the govern- ment has also improved its rating in the South-Eastern region and the Northern region from 2.7 to 2.9. Country direction The survey also confirms a growing sense of opti- mism on the direction of the country. Although 59% still think that the country is going in the wrong di- rection, this represents a 1.5-point decrease over the past month. Moreover, the percent- age of respondents who think the country is going in the right direction has increased from 31% in Oc- tober to 35% in November to 39.5% in February and 41% now. Government Performance gets 2.9 marks out of 5 Respondents who think country is going in the wrong direction decrease by two points but 59% still think country has taken a wrong turn Resurgent Labour Party THE Labour Party is solidly in pole position with a 10-point lead over the Nationalist Party in MaltaToday's second survey on voting intentions for June's MEP election. The gap translates into a 28,702-vote advantage on the back of a significantly higher turn- out of 76.6%, up from 62.5% last month. The survey shows the PL polling at 52.8%, up from 47.9% in Febru- ary, while the PN is currently poll- ing at 42.6%, a marginal increase from 41% last month. Support for independents and other parties drops to 4.6% from 11.1%. In a clear indication that Labour has managed to mobilise its voters in the past weeks, the percentage of Labour voters in 2022 intent on not voting has dropped from a staggering 34.2% in February to just 14.4% now. This means the PL is now retain- ing 81.6% of its voters compared to just 58.1% last month. The in- creased turnout among Labour voters has pushed the party up by five clear points to clinch an abso- lute majority. This poll boost for the PL comes in the wake of official statistics showing lower inflation in Feb- ruary on the back of a slowdown in food inflation. This could be the result of the Stabbiltà scheme, Voting intentions: 2022 voters