News • 19 January 2003

First-ever absolute majority fails to move Labour

VALLETTA - If the results of the latest Xarabank survey on EU membership are to be believed, the Labour Party leadership should be rethinking its strategy and changing its tune.

The results show a 13.2 per cent increase in those favouring EU membership. This represents the first ever absolute majority in favour of EU membership recorded in all the surveys carried out by the Xarabank team.

More than 53 per cent of respondents now say they will vote in favour of EU membership if a referendum were to be held on the following day. Nearly 24 per cent said they would vote against. A sample of 1,203 respondents were selected and asked three questions on EU membership.

Contacted by MaltaToday, top Labour officials had little or nothing to say about the survey.

Continues on page 2Labour’s cool reception

Shadow Foreign Minister Dr George Vella said he was ignoring the survey because of conflicting findings from other sources.

"I have been ignoring these surveys for long. I meet people in the street who tell me they were asked what they would vote come the referendum, and they tell me they would have said ‘yes’ because they are scared they would be labelled if they say the opposite.

"There are other surveys which reveal different findings, such as those of the Eurobarometer which indicate far more people in Malta opposing EU membership. Our own surveys confirm these findings."

Asked about the results of Labour’s surveys, Dr Vella would not divulge any information except to say that the results had given Labour more confidence.

Dr Vella reaffirmed the mandatory power of the people’s choice during elections:

"As a consultative referendum, the plebiscite has no binding power, except maybe as moral support for Government, which is its executor. However, I will act on the mandate of the people that will choose Labour’s partnership strategy as explained in its electoral manifesto when the people vote in the general elections.

"The electoral decision is a binding one which will decide whether Government will be kept or changed."

Party secretary Jimmy Magro was more tight-lipped on the matter, saying he had no reactions to the survey, except that Labour’s partnership idea will prevail in the EU referendum.

The Xarabank survey recorded a drop of 13.8 per cent in the undecided category, which now stands at 17.5 per cent. Five and a half per cent said they would not vote.

The age group looking on EU membership most favourably was the 55-64 age bracket, at 59.9 per cent, followed closely by the 17-24 age bracket at 58.1 per cent. The latter age group also recorded the highest percentage of undecided voters at 8.6 per cent.

The highest number of voters opposing EU membership was in the 45-54 age group at 30.7 per cent.