Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/424604
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 30 NOVEMBER 2014 6 MaltaToday Survey JAMES DEBONO A relative majority of respondents (39%) want Home Affairs Minister Manuel Mallia to resign after last week's shooting incident involving the minister's driver. 33% do not want him to resign while 25% are undecided. Mallia's position is deemed un- tenable not just by an overwhelm- ing majority of PN voters (82%) but also by a substantial number of traditional Labour voters, 21% and 53% of switchers who voted PN in 2008 and PL in 2013 think that Mallia should resign. The survey was held among 400 respondents between Monday and Thursday. Should Mallia go? Due to the indecision expressed by 25% of respondents, the survey does not produce an absolute ma- jority in favour of Mallia's resigna- tion. The survey contrasts with online polls on the Malta Independent, the Times of Malta and MaltaToday which registered a higher support for Mallia's resignation (85%, 70% and 51% respectively). This could be attributed to the fact that unde- cided respondents or respondents who are not interested in the issue, are less likely to participate in on- line polls. An extrapolation of the Mal- taToday survey after undecided respondents are eliminated shows 54% supporting Mallia's resigna- tion. But the survey indicates that stra- tegic groups of voters like switch- ers, university educated voters and a minority of traditional Labour voters think Mallia should go. The survey shows that although a majority of PL voters (60%) think Mallia should stay in Muscat's ministerial cabinet, a majority of switchers (53%) think he should go. Only 35% of switchers replied no when asked whether the minister should resign. Ironically although Mallia has a Nationalist past, support for his resignation is higher among former Nationalist voters who switched to Labour than among respondents who voted Labour in both the 2008 and 2013 election. In fact while 17% of Labour voters in the 2008 general election want Mallia to resign, the percentage rises to 21% among 2013 Labour voters, thanks to the opinion ex- pressed by most switchers in favour of the minister's resignation. The survey also shows that PN voters are not unanimous in fa- vour of Mallia's resignation even if the vast majority (82%) follow the party line. In fact 6% of PN voters think that the minister should not resign while 10% refrained from express- ing judgement. A further 2% of PN voters mentioned another option, like having other officials resign or having Mallia resign temporarily until his fate is sealed by the mag- isterial inquiry. This view was also expressed by 4% of respondents with a university and a post secondary education. The survey also shows that while university educated respondents overwhelmingly want the Home Affairs Minister to leave (65%), respondents with a post second- ary or secondary level of education are more evenly split. Interestingly respondents who have not been to university but who have a post secondary level of education are the most likely to be undecided on whether the Home Affairs Minister should resign. Respondents with a primary level of education are the only cohort which thinks Mallia should not re- sign. Should minister be sacked? 39% say 'yes' 82.1% 21% 52.9% 39.1% 60% 35.3% 33.2% 6% 9.5% 17.1% 11.8% 25.4% ACTING Police Commissioner Ray Zammit has refused to com- ment on serious allegations that a member of the police force may be involved in the tampering of evidence surrounding the Gzira shooting incident. MaltaToday yesterday contact- ed Zammit by phone, asking him to confirm or deny information received by this newspaper on what went on the night that po- lice constable Paul Sheehan fired twice at a hit and run driver. Zammit, reluctant to answer the questions over the phone, said questions should be sent by email via the Police's communi- cations office. He insisted on this even after MaltaToday explained the grievous nature of the allega- tions being made. In a written reply, Zammit later replied that an investigation was ongoing, failing to confirm, deny or comment on the allegations being made. "The Police confirms that the questions pertain to an ongoing in- vestigation," the communications office replied. MaltaToday's set of questions re- volved around the alleged involve- ment of police inspector Gabriel Micallef, who was included in a police line-up of suspects who tried to recover an eyewitness's mobile phone footage of the shooting in- cident. Micallef, whose sister is the part- ner of Sheehan, was also spotted at the Tal-Qroqq tunnels where the ministerial car and the Scotsman's car came to a stop after Sheehan gave chase. MaltaToday also asked Acting Commissioner of Police Ray Zam- mit whether he had been informed of suspicions that Micallef was on site before the arrival of the police low-loader; and where the car of Scotsman Stephen Smith had been moved 100 metres away from where it had originally stopped. The witnesses who say a "mysteri- ous man" asked them to hand over their mobile phone were unable to positively identify the man who ap- proached them in a police line-up, and picked two individuals. The Opposition has accused Ray Zammit with tampering of evidence after the Scotsman's car was placed on a low loader before the arrival of the inquiring magistrate and fo- rensic experts. Zammit, on his part, denied ordering the car's removal, saying he ordered Superintendent Alexandra Mamo to be present on site to order a magisterial inquiry. He added that the low-loader was brought down to take the cars to the CID yard after the magisterial inquiry is launched. "Although the car was loaded on- to the low-loader, Police still stayed on site and an inquiry continued on site," Zammit said. Police chief mum on fresh allegations of tampering of evidence Police Acting Commissioner Ray Zammit and (below) the scene in the tunnels where the cars stopped after the chase