Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/492208
maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 8 APRIL 2015 2 News Hunting referendum: An east-west divide? Survey shows indecision highest in Labour's inner and outer harbour districts where No leads by two points. Regional breakdown of the latest MaltaToday survey shows the Yes leading by a wide margin in Gozo and Eastern Malta and the No winning by a wide margin in PN oriented north western urban conglomerates JAMES DEBONO NEXT Sunday, the vote counts from counting tables hailing from different electoral districts will be telling very different stories. While campaign and party agents reporting results from the PN-lean- ing eighth to the twelfth districts will be reporting strong No majorities, which in some cases may border on an anti hunting plebiscite, those re- porting from the PL-leaning but less politically homogeneous eastern Mal- ta and Gozo (won by Labour for the first time in 2013) will be reporting a strong lead for the Yes camp. A simi- lar lead was registered a month ago. What could turn to be decisive to the outcome of the referendum are voters in the Labour-leaning first four districts where the No presently en- joys a small two-point lead but where 13% are saying that they will not be voting in the referendum and 19% are still undecided on what to do. The first four districts include three where Labour enjoys majorities of over 66% and the more divided first districts where Labour enjoys a 54% majority. The survey shows that only 66% of voters in the first four districts have made up their mind on how to vote, compared to 79% in the fifth, sixth and seventh districts, 78% in Gozo and 73% in the eighth, ninth, tenth, eleventh and twelfth districts. Interestingly, the pro-hunting dis- tricts, namely Gozo and the fifth, sixth and seventh districts, are re- porting the lowest percentage of vot- ers who intend not voting. Only 1% of Gozitans and 4% of voters from the north and southeast intend not to vote. But while voters in the fifth, sixth and seventh districts have the least percentage of undecided (14%), Gozo has the second highest (18.5%) among the four district groupings. Different towns will also be tell- ing different stories, even in districts marked by strong majorities for one side or another. For example indications from MT surveys carried out in the past months, show that while the Yes leads the No by just five points in Qormi and Siggiewi, it is leading by 25 points in Zebbug and Dingli. Moreover in a sign of changing de- mographics, the No camp leads by 15 to 20 points in more urbanised Ham- run, which borders on Yes-leaning Qormi and forms part of the Labour- leaning first district. Large northern and central towns like Mosta, Naxxar and Birkirkara report a not so narrow No lead of between five and ten points. But the more affluent Attard and Swieqi re- port the No camp leading by more than 40 points. In these localities around two thirds are saying that they will be voting no. Other localities reporting strong No majorities of over 30 points are St Ju- lians and Saint Paul's Bay. Methodology The survey was held between Wednesday, 25 March and Wednes- day, 1 April. A total of 1,572 respond- ents were contacted by telephone. The survey was stopped when a 1,100 quo- ta sample was reached. The survey has a margin of error of +/-3 percent- age points. The results of the survey were weighed to reflect the age and gender balance of the population as registered in the latest census of the Maltese and Gozitan population. How will you vote in the referendum on spring hunting? Districts 1-4 Yes: in favour of spring hunting 32.2 No: against spring hunting 34.4 Will not vote 13.1 Don't know 18.5 No Reply 1.9 (This regional group includes the following localities: Valletta, Floriana, and Ħamrun, Marsa, Tal-Pietà, Birgu, L-Isla, Bormla, Ħaż-Żabbar, Kalkara, Xgħajra, Żejtun, Fgura, Marsaskala, Gudja, Ghaxaq, Paola, Santa Luċija, Ħal Tarxien) Districts 5-7 Yes: in favour spring hunting 48.2 No: against spring hunting 31.9 Will not vote 4 Don't know 14 No reply 2 (This regional group includes the following localities: Birżebbuġa, Ħal Kirkop, Marsaxlokk, Imqabba, Qrendi, Safi, Żurrieq, Luqa, Qormi, Is-Siġġiewi, Ħad-Dingli Imdina, Mġarr, Mtarfa, Rabat, Żebbuġ) Districts 8-12 Yes: in favour of spring hunting 24.4 No: against spring hunting 49 Will not vote 6.8 Don't know 17.1 No reply 2.8 (This regional group includes Birkirkara, Iklin, Lija, Naxxar Santa Venera, Għargħur, Imsida, San Ġwann, Swieqi, Ta' Xbiex, Gżira, Pembroke, San Ġiljan, Sliema, Attard, Balzan, Mosta, Mellieħa, Baħar Iċ-Ċagħaq, San Pawl il-Baħar) Gozo district Yes: in favour of spring hunting 47.4 No: against spring hunting 30.9 Will not vote 1.2 Don't know 18.5 No reply 2 Muscat: Abstention 'a win for Busuttil' MIRIAM DALLI PRIME Minister Joseph Muscat has reached out to the Labour core with a call to voters to vote for PL candidates in Saturday's local elections, insisting that staying at home in protest would be "a win for Simon Busuttil ". At a part y rally in Gzira, Muscat hit out at the Opposition leader, who he said had failed his own transparency benchmark. "Mr Transparency has been miss- ing for a number of days now. Easter break is over but looks like he hasn't woken up. What is he scared of ? From journalists who are waiting to press him with questions? If it's not the journal- ists, then it's the people," Muscat said. Muscat said Simon Busuttil had hidden from the media in a bid to avoid questions on the votes-for- works scandal that has embroiled former Gozo minister Giovanna Debono and her husband An- thony. He said that back in March 2013, his newly-elected govern- ment was facing the imminent departure of companies that would have made hundreds of workers redundant. "They com- plained about the problems they faced but we urged them to stay, promising to deal with their is- sues, starting with reducing ex- cessive red tape," Muscat said. Less than 24 hours since he had laid the foundation stone of a €120 million high-rise project in Gzira the previous day, Muscat also revealed that Libyan inves- tors HB Group had threatened to quit their Metropolis project. "The investors had given up with all the hurdles they were fac- ing and they were simply going to take their project elsewhere. We stopped them from leaving and started taking the decisions that needed to be taken. Thanks to this, 400 jobs will be created and an abandoned area will now be regenerated, increasing propert y value," he said. To the cheers of the sizeable crowd gathered under the tent, Muscat said 9,000 women this week received a contribution of up to €200, who had not been en- titled to a pension because their national insurance contributions had not been paid in full. Earlier, energy minister Konrad Mizzi defended what he termed a "fully transparent process" in parliament that saw the carving out of the Petroleum Division from energy provider Enemalta into the recently set-up Enemed. Addressing the Labour rally on the same day that the PN mount- ed a campaign on a number of land transfers to Enemalta, Miz- zi said the government had acted swiftly to save thousands of jobs, attract €320 million in foreign direct investment and improve the company's credit rating. He added that had Enemalta collapsed, banks and people's savings would have gone down with it. Mizzi was warmly welcomed by the Gzira residents, who cheered him on as he described how "happy" he felt to form part of the Labour movement led by Joseph Muscat. The energy minister explained that the government "inherited the highest utilit y bills" in Eu- rope and now tariffs had gone down for both business and households, generating some €80 million in savings. Reiterating the importance of having a mix in energy supply, Mizzi said the government had worked to have a sustainable and reliable plan in energy genera- tion. The interconnector, fully operational, will be inaugurated tomorrow in the presence of Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi.