Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/580873
YOUR FIRST READ AND FIRST CLICK OF THE DAY WWW.MALTATODAY.COM.MT maltatoday Brikkuni frontman Mario Vella interviewed 15 14 MALTATODAY SURVEY Opposition leader gains three points over summer BIGMOUTH STRIKES AGAIN! Tattoo you! Newspaper post JAMES DEBONO PRIME Minister Joseph Muscat enjoys a strong 11-point lead over Opposition leader Simon Busuttil in MaltaToday's latest survey. Muscat saw his trust lead increase by 1 point over the last survey in June 2015, while Busuttil increased his trust rating by a convincing 3 points. Significantly, Labour leads by 4 points over the PN when it comes to voting intentions, down from a five- point lead in June 2015 and an eight- point lead in March 2015. Muscat emerges as clearly more popular than his party, being trusted by 40% of voters. That's 8 points more than the percentage of voters who are sure of voting Labour again in a forth- coming election. On the other hand Busuttil is just 1 point more popular than his own party. The survey comes after the summer recess, which was dominated by alle- gations of sleaze and ongoing investi- gations in the Lands Department and Identity Malta, traffic problems and controversy on environmental issues, albeit against a backdrop of economic growth. The survey indicates considerable movement among voters of both par- ties, with 6% of PN voters in 2013 now opting for the PL and 9% of PL voters who are now choosing the PN. Importantly, MaltaToday's survey registers the narrowest trust gap ever between the two leaders since June 2013. With Muscat gaining 1 point and Busuttil three, the trust gap falls to 10.7 points. Their gains correspond to a decrease in undecided respond- ents. MALTATODAY columnist Michael Falzon will return to his regular Sun- day column after an absence of seven months since his public admission to having held an undeclared overseas bank account when he was an MP. The former Nationalist min- ister returns to PBS where he will review the Sunday newspapers with lawyer Ramona Frendo, and to write on MaltaToday every Sun- day. He was formerly a columnist for the Sunday Times as well. Now he speaks of being convinced that his name did not feature on the alleged Swissleaks list of HSBC's private clients in Geneva. €1.40 SUNDAY • 4 OCTOBER 2015 • ISSUE 830 • PUBLISHED EVERY WEDNESDAY AND SUNDAY 10 Get set for the Malta Tattoo Expo 17 16 The last of the militants FREE! How will GWU boss Tony Zarb be remembered by the workers' movement? Michael Falzon returns to MaltaToday PG4 40% (+1.1p) 29.3% (+3p) Trust rating October 2015, and difference over last survey in June SURVEY PAGE 12 Muscat leads by 11 point as Busuttil gains trust boost YOUR FIRST READ AND FIRST CLICK OF THE DAY WWW.MALTATODAY.COM.MT FREE! October 2015 - Issue 70 www.vida.com.mt EXERCISE TO KEEP ILLNESS AT BAY PUMP UP THE VOLUME The ultimate path to thicker, longer hair OLD SCHOOL A season with a twist of old school this autumn WITH MALTATODAY ABUSIVE BUILDING ON PUBLIC FORESHORE? €425,000 DISCOUNT! MATTHEW VELLA A court order to drop down one of St Julian's most notorious of con- struction eyesores, after it abusively extended onto the public foreshore, was ignored by the previous ad- ministration which – documents seen by MaltaToday show – granted the offending developers a massive €425,000 'discount' on the land's original value. In documents obtained by this newspaper, which inquired over the 2009 court order to demolish the abusive apartment building, Mal- taToday learnt that not only were the developers allowed to retain the building that was illegally protruding onto government land; but that the Government Property Department's (GPD) request for a €950,000 sale of the property on government land was decreased almost by half to €525,000 paid over five years. PG4 Courts ordered demolition, PN government discounted sale price