Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/753405
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 20 NOVEMBER 2016 11 Mizzi to one notch above Joe Mizzi Rate the Minister ship despite promising the National- ists "to hit back with an axe" if "you hit us with a sword", has lost eight points among PN voters. In an indication that Leo Brincat's low ratings in previous surveys reflected a widespread perception of the govern- ment's lack of sensitivity to environmen- tal concerns, his successor José Herrera gets the same positive rating as his prede- cessor (30%). The survey indicates that ongoing un- certainty on Air Malta has taken a toll on tourism minister Edward Zammit Lewis, who has slipped by nine points even if he remains one of the three most popu- lar ministers in the Cabinet, just ahead of finance minister Edward Scicluna, who gained three points after last year and surprisingly emerges from the survey as the most positively rated minister among Labour voters. Zammit Lewis's losses can be attributed to a 16-point drop among PN voters who in this survey were less in- clined to rate any minister positively. In fact Zammit Lewis only loses two points among Labour voters. In contrast to the losses made by Labour newcomers like Owen Bonnici, Konrad Mizzi, Chris Cardona and Edward Zam- mit Lewis, the survey shows veteran La- bour politicians like George Vella, Ed- ward Scicluna, Evarist Bartolo and Louis Grech consolidating their position. Bar- tolo who was the only Labour minister to publicly call on Konrad Mizzi to resign, has replaced Zammit Lewis as the posi- tively rated minister among PN voters. The survey was held before the latest al- legations of graft in the award of direct orders by the Foundation for Tomorrow's Schools. Louis Grech has also seen a 10-point increase in his positive ratings. His rat- ing among Labour voters has also in- creased by 15 points. This may indicate that following Panamagate the electorate is banking on more reassuring figures on the government's bench. Panama, traffic and environmental blues Only 24% of respondents in MaltaTo- day's latest survey judge the performance of transport minister Joe Mizzi as posi- tive, up from 22% last year and down from 52% in February 2014. Amid increased concern on traffic con- gestion and the state of public transport, Mizzi's performance was judged negative- ly by 37% (up from 34%) of respondents and 'so-so' by 27%. After his demotion from energy minis- ter to a Cabinet post without a specific portfolio, Konrad Mizzi is just five points ahead of Joe Mizzi and in the same posi- tion as Manuel Mallia. Mizzi has not only lost his position among the top brass, but is 28 points less popular than he was in February 2014 when his performance was judged positively by a staggering 57%, second only to Marie Louise Coleiro Pre- ca, before she was appointed President. While last year Konrad Mizzi was the second most popular minister among Labour voters, 77% of whom judged his performance positively, in this survey only 55% of Labour voters rate his perfor- mance positively. But among the Labour Only 24% of respondents in MaltaToday's latest survey judge the performance of transport minister Joe Mizzi as positive, up from 22% last year and down from 52% in February 2014 16.9% 14.4% 13.2% 16.9% 18.5% 31.6% 18.9% 37.2% 27.2% 25.1% 30.0% 20.1% 30.0% 25.1% 29.9% 27.4% 18.5% 23.1% 22.6% 29.7% 21.5% 14.5% 22.4% 11.1% 37.4% 37.4% 34.2% 33.3% 30.0% 28.8% 28.8% 24.3% -10.9% -5.6% -7.1% 2.6% 0.4% -17.8% n/c +2.0 * José Herrera's ratings are compared to those of his predecessor Leo Brincat O. Bonnici C. Cardona C. Abela A. Refalo J. Herrera* Konrad Mizzi M. Mallia J. Mizzi