Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/265009
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 23 FEBRUARY 2014 2014 6 News 48% of respondents in a MaltaToday survey have given a positive verdict on Labour's performance, with just 12% giving the thumbs-down and 30% ex- pressing a 'so-and-so' verdict. The tectonic plates of Maltese poli- tics are shifting again, revealing dis- gruntlement among 44% of 'switchers' who voted Labour in 2013 after having voted for the PN in 2008 – they gave Labour a negative or 'so-and-so' ver- dict, but 8% of PN say they are satisfied with Joseph Muscat's government. This was the first MaltaToday survey assessing the collective performance of the one-year-old Labour government. Previous surveys assessed Muscat's performance, the last one in October giving him a 51% approval rating. But now 11% of Labour voters have given his government a 'so-and-so' verdict. And 36% of switchers are of the same opinion, while 8% give the government a negative verdict. This means that switchers are equally di- vided between 44% who give the gov- ernment a positive rating, and 44% who give the government a negative or 'so-and-so' rating. But 8% of Nationalist voters in the last general election also expressed a positive verdict, a sign that some PN voters have warmed up to the new government and that Muscat still has some power to enchant voters from the other side of the political divide after managing to sway thousands of former Nationalists in 2013. But it's no easy task to retaining the support of switchers. The National- ist electorate is nearly equally divided between 41% who express a negative judgement of the Labour government and 42% who expressed a 'so-and-so' judgement. Reconciling the hawk- ish wing of the party's electorate with more moderate elements could pose a problem for PN leader Simon Busuttil. On the other hand, the survey shows nearly one in every four Labour voters have not given a positive verdict on the new government. These are divided between a small minority of 3% who judge the Labour government's per- formance a negative one, and a more substantial 19% who either express a 'so-and-so' verdict or could not answer the question. Discontentment is also higher among former Nationalists in Labour's fold. Nearly one in every 10 switchers deems the government's performance a negative one. Moreover 36% con- sider the government's performance as 'so-and-so' and a further 13% could not express a judgement on government's performance. Overall, only 44% of switchers rates Muscat's government positively. So while he is still managing to appeal to an 'eight per cent' segment of Nation- alist voters, Muscat risks losing the support of another 'eight per cent' seg- ment of switchers rating his govern- ment negatively. It still remains to be seen whether the discontentment among Labour voters and switchers will translate into any losses in May's MEP elec- tions, and whether Muscat will make inroads among those the PN voters who already judge the government's performance positively. jdebono@mediatoday.com.mt Methodology The survey was held between Friday 7 February and Thursday 13 Febru- ary. A total of 631 respondents were chosen randomly from telephone di- rectories and contacted by telephone. Of these, 400 accepted to participate in the survey. Results were weighted to reflect the age and gender balance of the population, as established in the latest census. The survey has a margin of error of +/-4.9% Muscat's government gets 48% approval Switchers give 8% negative judgement and 8% of PN voters give government positive verdict How do you assess the performance of the government? PN voters PL voters Switchers All Positive 7.6 78.2 44 47.9 Negative 40.9 3.3 8 12.1 So-and-so 42.4 11.3 36 29.5 Don't know 9.1 7.3 12 10.5 'I wasn't gunning for leader in 1996' – Louis Galea FORMER Nationalist minister Louis Galea has rebutted claims that he had "pushed" for a change within the party's leadership after its 1996 election defeat to Alfred Sant's La- bour Party, insisting that his loyalty to Fenech Adami was "never put into doubt". In his autobiography 'Eddie: My Journey', former prime minister Ed- die Fenech Adami recalls that after the election defeat, he initally con- sidered tendering his resignation, but after being convinced by sev- eral friends and colleagues, he opted against it. Nevertheless, Fenech Adami re- veals that "some people, principally Louis Galea, were talking about a need for change," within the party's leadership. Insisting that he did not want things to be done behind his back, Fenech Adami details how he had confront- ed Louis Galea and told him that he would even back a successor – at that time Fenech Adami considered Louis Galea as the sole contender for the hot seat – but people had insisted that it was not time for change. "Guido de Marco was an unlikely candidate... Lawrence Gonzi had not yet emerged as a potential leader. That made Louis the only realistic al- ternative. However, the political sce- nario started to develop very quickly and almost immediately people were saying this was no time for the party to make a change... the matter there- fore died a natural death." However, in a reaction, Louis Galea denied that after the 1996 election, he had talked about a change in lead- ership and that he had affirmed this with Fenech Adami himself. "During a meeting at Eddie's office at the PN headquartes, he asked me whether I was behind any move for a change in the party leadership," he explained. "I categorically denied this and in- formed him that isolated voices had been mooting the issue. Some weeks before I had been approached by an individual who had raised the pros- pect of ringing changes within the party," Galea said. The former Nationalist minister insisted that he neither encouraged nor entertained the idea of affecting changes within the party's leader- ship. "Taking a critical stance of all that goes around me, including what Ed- die said and did, is one thing, but saying that 'Louis Galea pushed for change' and that I was leading the talk for a change is not all true," he continued. Galea said that Fenech Adami told him that his assessment was that the Sant government was already run- ning into difficulties and that the PN had to be prepared to face a general election in the near fu- ture. "I concurred with that assess- ment. Stoking 'the flames of change' seems to be an irresist- ible part of my make-up. Since my young days I was on the look-out for that which can be improved to the benefit of the people at large. It was this urge that rooted in me an unshak- able vocation to dedicate myself to politics," Galea said. Eddie Fenech Adami went on to win the 1998 and the 2003 general elections. On both occas- sions he appointed Galea educa- tion minister. Elsewhere in his book, Fenech Adami instantly sets the tone at the start of this biographi- cal tome. His customary con- ciliatory prelude starts with an admission: "The PN made its fair share of mistakes." But there is the obvious pin- pointing to decisions – bad – made by other people. "Some cannot be rectified, such as building a new party head- quarters at huge cost," is his gentle missive for former secre- tary-general Joe Saliba. The other goes out to Lawrence Gonzi, his successor, with implicit reference to his problems with former MP Franco Debono. "Without doubt [the PN] needs to take greater care to ensure it se- lects candidates who are suited to the character of the party and its objec- tives. The internal turmoil it went though was not at all pleasant. You always have levels; I know I did. A leader has to react to that. Perhaps I was more prepared to confront certain situations head-on, but Law- rence Gonzi had his own merits and deserved a long period in office as prime minister." On his part, Franco Debono – when faced with this extract of Fenech Ad- ami's autobiography – replied with uncustomary dryness. "Fenech Ada- mi was referring to Austin Gatt." Doubtful. Apart from his typical description as "gruff" (nothing new there), Gatt is praised for his role in Above left, Eddie Fenech Adami and Sunday Times editor Steve Mallia, who assisted him in the autobiography 'My Journey' Left: Franco Debono says Fenech Adami's reference to rebels is not directed at him but at Austin Gatt PHOTOGRAPHY BY RAY ATTARD