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maltatoday, MONDAY, 5 JUNE 2017 12 News JAMES DEBONO FOR the third consecu- tive time since 2008, MaltaToday's surveys called the general elec- tion result but fell short in predicting the scale of Labour's advantage. An extrapolation of MaltaToday's latest survey after removing undecided voters and non-voters gave Labour 52.7%, the PN 46.3% and other parties at 1%. Previous surveys had put Labour consistently at 52%, and Labour surpassed the 52% mark in the last two surveys. On the basis of early indications of a 55% Labour victory, Malta- Today's surveys underscored La- bour's result by 2 points. But the survey also over-estimat- ed the PN's result by 2 points. This is why MaltaTo- day's 6.4 point gap differed from the 11-point gap in the result. This may sug- gest that patterns among undecided and non-respondents matched those of de- cided voters. The latest survey shows 6.5% of Labour voters (up from 6.3% last week) in 2013 shift- ing from the PL to the PN and 4% (up from 3.3% last week) of PN voters in 2013 shift- ing from the PL to the PN. This pattern was matched in other sur- veys conducted by other news organisations. The last survey showed 6.5% of Labour voters shifting from the PL to the PN and 4% of PN voters in 2013 shift- ing from the PL to the PN. Surveys showed the percentage of PN voters in 2013 switching to PL increasing from 1% at the beginning of campaign to 4% at the end of the campaign. This could either be an indication that the sur- vey could have underestimated the percentage of PN voters who shifted to the PL. It could also be an in- dication that this cat- egory was under repre- sented in MaltaToday's surveys. The surveys also seem to have correctly as- sessed votes for third parties at around 1% and past trends showing the most trusted leader winning the election. Surveys call election but not scale of Labour victory THE Democratic Party leader Marlene Farrugia made a brave entrance at the Naxxar counting hall, where Labour activists were less courteous about her appearance there: chants of 'Viva Viva l-Kar- nival' thundered around the hall, while the stoic Farrugias kept walking. Farrugia was chipper about the PD's perfor- mance, which ran on the Nationalist Party ticket in the elections, saying it was probable that her partner and former Labour MP Godfrey Farrugia would be elected. "We think we made a success, because it looks like we're on our way to elect a third party seat," Farrugia told the press. But the former Labour MP said the massive 36,000 vote majority won by Labour had shown that the electorate "was not understanding how cor- ruption is affecting their future and children… cor- ruption is not such an im- portant issue for this gov- ernment to be changed." Farrugia also made a reference to the Labour government employing the power of incumbency, claiming "many hand-outs were doled out over the past week". Farrugia conceded that Maltese voters had been responsive to the job crea- tion and economic record of the Labour government. "The people were not con- cerned as much about good governance as they were about the economy, otherwise they would have voted Muscat out." The former MP also in- sisted that people trusted the PD. "The 'Forza Naz- zjonali' lost the election but not its soul. We chose Malta and we will keep putting pressure on the government to behave like a responsible government, and to restore our coun- try's reputation." Godfrey Farrugia, in a brief comment, said that if elected he would safeguard both good governance and the right to life, which he described as being "the two sacrosanct principles" of his. In a formal statement, the PD – which described itself as 'Malta's third big- gest party' – said it accept- ed the election result with humility. "The nation is deeply di- vided and we need to heal that divide. We remain one, astonishing and re- lentless people. We have chosen Malta and will never stop choosing Malta. We are not an insignificant number, we are significant, we are there and we will continue to hold the new Labour government ac- countable," the PD said. "Yes, the Labour Party has won this election, but this will not render what we believe in null and void; rather, it only strengthens our desire to pursue the best for our country. This has always been the foun- dation of our party, and will continue to be so." Echoing Simon Busuttil's brief comments given on Net TV, the PD said it was encouraging its followers to "keep the flame burn- ing, to continue to believe in the sincerity we have shown in fighting for what we truly believe is right for you, the people." Farrugia: Maltese did not understand how corruption affected their future

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