Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/905944
maltatoday WEDNESDAY 22 NOVEMBER 2017 News 5 KURT SANSONE NOWHERE more than in Gozo are the Nationalist Party's woes more pronounced, according to a survey of voting intentions conducted by MaltaToday. While the survey published last Sunday found the PN trail- ing the Labour Party by 28 points nationally, a breakdown of the results by region, being presented today, shows the PN at its lowest ebb in Gozo. The difference between the major parties stood at a whop- ping 38.8% in Gozo, surpassing the gap in the southern harbour region, which is made up of towns that form the PL's tradi- tional heartland. While the PL captured 52.2% of the vote in Gozo, the PN could only muster 13.4%. Impressively, the combined vote of Alternat- tiva Demokratika and the Dem- ocratic Party in Gozo stood at 9.9%, the highest result across all regions for the minor parties. Although the Gozo region is characterised by the highest rate of non-respondents (16%), the result is a reflection of the PN's internal difficulties on the sister island. With the survey findings put- ting the PL at almost the same level of support it enjoyed in the general election, the chasm between both parties is down to the fact that PN voters have drifted elsewhere. The PN has had to contend with a bitter rift after Adrian Delia beat Gozitan MP Chris Said in the leadership race last September. Delia has faced resistance within the parliamentary group and Said even forged ahead with a private members' motion call- ing for a wide-ranging inquiry into all claims made by slain journalist Daphne Caruana Gal- izia against people in authority, including Delia. To compound matters, none of the 56 candidates, who contest- ed for a seat on the PN's execu- tive last month were Gozitan, in what was interpreted as a show of defiance towards Delia. But Delia's inability to convince voters is also evident across the other regions in Malta. It has to be noted that the regions used in the survey do not correspond to the electoral districts but are based on the classification used by the National Statistics Office. The Northern Harbour and Northern regions would rough- ly correspond to the PN's tradi- tional hinterland but even here the party failed to gain ground. In the Northern Harbour, the PL registered the support of 47.3% of respondents while the PN trailed at 20.1%. This region also had the largest share of un- decided voters at 16%. The Northern region saw the PL obtaining its lowest result at 42.7%, which, however, did not translate into a better perfor- mance for the PN. In this region characterised by the highest percentage of non-voters (30.2%) the PN could only muster 19.9%. The minor parties together reg- istered 7.3%. As expected the PL achieved the largest share of preferences in the South Eastern region, which along with the Southern Harbour represent traditional red territory. In the South East- ern region, the PL received the support of 56.5% of respondents as opposed to the PN's 28.4%. It is interesting to note that the PN result is the highest across all regions, possibly indicat- ing greater support for Delia's style among Nationalists in the southern sphere. In the Southern Harbour re- gion the PL scored 52.1% against the PN's 21%. The Western Region saw the PL win a relative majority of 49.8% against the PN's 20.9%. This re- gion saw the second highest level of non-voters at 24.1%. Survey methodology The MaltaToday survey was carried out between 13 and 16 November. The total number of respondents was 497, giving a margin of error of +/-5% for a confidence level of 95%. Stratified random sampling was used to generate the sample. The sample was weighted according to gender, age, geographical re- gion and response, according to the June 2017 election. The regions are based on the classification used by the Na- tional Statistics Office. PN's woes in Gozo run deeper than anywhere else Regions used in the survey The regions are based on the classification deter- mined by the National Sta- tistics Office. Southern Harbour: Valletta, Vittoriosa, Senglea, Cospicua, Zabbar, Fgura, Floriana, Kalkara, Luqa, Marsa, Paola, St Lucija, Tarxien, Xghajra. Northern Harbour: Qormi, Birkirkara, Gzira, Hamrun, Msida, Pembroke, Pieta, St Julians, San Gwann, St Venera, Sliema, Swieqi, Ta' Xbiex. South Eastern: Zejtun, Birzebbuga, Gudja, Ghaxaq, Kirkop, Marsascala, Marsaxlokk, Mqabba, Qrendi, Safi, Zurrieq. Western: : Mdina, Zebbug, Siggiewi, Attard, Balzan, Dingli, Iklin, Lija, Rabat, Mtarfa. Northern: Gharghur, Mellieha, Mgarr, Mosta, Naxxar, St Paul's Bay. Gozo: Gozo and Comino PN leader Simon Busuttil reached out to Gozitan voters in the run-up to the last election at a mass meeting in the Gozitan capital of Rabat