Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1536636
Alex Borg is front-runner but nearly half of PN members are undecided Alex Borg emerges as the front-runner for the Nationalist Party leadership among party members, followed by Adrian Delia. But 22% back an assortment of other candidates and significantly, 44% are either undecided or refused to answer A relative majority of Nationalist Par- ty members don't know who should lead the party but Alex Borg emerges as the favourite among those who are decided. The 29-year-old Gozitan MP is the front-runner, followed by former leader Adrian Delia and former MP Franco Debono trailing a distant third. But the outcome remains uncertain due to the high percentage of unde- cided members or those split between different candidates. This emerges from a MaltaToday survey carried out among 564 peo- ple from an anonymised list of party members. While Borg enjoys the support of just under one in four members (23.2%) and Delia slightly more than one in 10 (11.2%), the vote remains wide open, with undecided or non-commit- ted members having the crucial say. These include 40% who have not yet made up their minds and 4% who gave no answer. Moreover, the survey was held be- fore the party opens the process for receiving expressions of interest from potential candidates in the coming days. Party members were asked who their preferred choice for leader is without being presented with names. They were at liberty to mention any- one they like. The survey also shows that 21.8% support other candidates: 5.5% for Franco Debono, 3.7% for Mark An- thony Sammut, 3.7% for Darren Car- abott, and 1.8% for Roberta Metsola, despite declaring she will not be in the race. The difference between these 'mi- nor' candidates falls squarely within the survey's four-point margin of er- ror. A further 7% mentioned other candidates, each receiving less than 1.8%. A survey leaked to the Times of Malta last week showed very similar results, with Borg leading at 27.5% and Delia at 19.3%. The difference be- tween the two surveys falls within the margin of error. Borg stronger among under 50-year- olds The survey indicates that female party members (44.8%) are more un- decided than males (36%), with Borg more favoured by males (25.1%) than females (21.1%). Support for Franco Debono is also higher among males (6.9%) than fe- males (3.8%). Delia's support among males (11.6%) is only slightly higher than among females (10.7%). By age, Borg is stronger among younger and middle-aged members, with support rising from 32.4% among under-35s to 38.4% among 36–50s, before falling to 26.5% among 51–65s and 15.4% among over-65s. Among pensioners, Delia and Borg enjoy equal support, but Delia's sup- port drops to under 6% among the under-50s. Franco Debono is the sec- ond most popular among both 16–35s and 36–50s. Mark Anthony Sammut enjoys similar support to Delia among under-50s, while Darren Carabott is mt SURVEY 8 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 22 JUNE 2025 JAMES DEBONO jdebono@mediatoday.com.mt