Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/278185
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 16 MARCH 2014 News 17 JAMES DEBONO The survey reveals that while a segment of PL supporters are luke- warm in their assessment of Mus- cat's performance in government, a segment of PN voters in the last election have warmed up to the new government. In fact among PN voters in the last election, 11% deem Muscat's performance as PM positively while 7% have more trust in Muscat than in Busuttil. But only 3% of PN vot- ers intend to vote Labour in May. On the other hand, 12% of PL vot- ers judge Muscat's performance as PM as 'so and so' and a further 4% judge his performance negatively. 4% of PL voters have more trust in Busuttil than in Muscat. But only 2% of PL voters intend voting PN in May. The survey also reveals the four front-runners for the next MEP elections, namely newcomers Alfred Sant and Miriam Dalli on Labour's side and the PN's two incumbent MEPs Roberta Metsola and David Casa. The other two seats are up for grabs with no candidate estab- lishing any significant lead over the others so far. The survey suggests that former Labour leader Alfred Sant will get the largest share of votes. 48% approve Muscat's performance Slightly less than half of respond- ents approve of Muscat's perform- ance as Prime Minister of the country. Muscat's approval rate slipped from 59% in April, a few weeks af- ter his party's victory in the elec- tion, to 42% in July, only to rise again to 51% in October. Since then his approval rate has stabi- lised at 47-48%. Muscat's approval rate remains higher than that of his predeces- sor Lawrence Gonzi at any time between 2008 and 2013. In fact Gonzi reached his highest rate of approval (41%) in September 2008, only to slip to an approval rate of 19% a year later. Compared to December, Mus- cat's approval rating has increased by one point. But, significantly, the percentage of respondents who deem his performance 'so and so' has increased by 11 points. On the other hand, the percent- age of those who replied 'don't know' when asked to judge his performance slipped by 11 points. This reflects a radicalisation of po- litical discourse in the past months, characterised by the debate on the citizenship scheme and a more as- sertive opposition. Most worrying for the Prime Min- ister is that more than one in ten of Labour voters judge his perform- ance as 'so and so' while nearly one in twenty judge his performance negatively. Among respondents who voted PN in 2008 and PL in 2013, nearly one in five judge his performance negatively, while a further 14% judged his performance 'so and so'. This suggests that 33% of switchers deem the PM's performance unsat- isfactory. But the most surprising result is that more than one in every ten Nationalist voters in 2013 judged Muscat's performance positively. Only 39% of PN respondents out- rightly describe his performance as a negative one while 45% deem his performance to be 'so and so'. This suggests that PN voters are split into three camps: an 11% mi- nority which gives the PM a positive assessment, a larger 39% minority which deems the PM's performance negatively, and a relative majority of 45% of PN voters who deem his performance insufficient but not completely negative. Reconciling these three different tendencies in his party could be a difficult task for PN leader Simon Busuttil, who MEP ELECTIONS: LABOUR LEADS BY 7 POINTS BUT 10% OF PL VOTERS WON'T VOTE Muscat banks on 18-point trust gap News mt survey Alfred Sant Roberta Metsola Miriam Dalli David Casa Francis Zammit Dimech Marlene Mizzi Cyrus Engerer Arnold Cassola Therese Comodini Cachia Others Which candidate will receive your first preference in next May's election for MEPs? Alfred Sant 11.5 Roberta Metsola 6.5 Miriam Dalli 6 David Casa 5 Francis Zammit Dimech 2 Marlene Mizzi 1.3 Cyrus Engerer 1.3 Arnold Cassola 1.3 Therese Comodini Cachia 1 Others 1.8 Alfred Sant Miriam Dalli Marlene Mizzi Cyrus Engerer Others Don't know PN front-runners PL front-runners Roberta Metsola David Casa Francis Zammit Dimech Therese Comodini Cachia Others Don't know