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James Debono
A careful analysis of last week’s MaltaToday survey results has shown the majority of respondents undecided in choosing between Lawrence Gonzi, Alfred Sant and Harry Vassallo, have given thumbs down to 10 out of 13 government ministers.
Only Dolores Cristina, Louis Galea and Jesmond Mugliett – ministers for family and social solidarity, education, and transport respectively – managed to get a positive rating from the majority of respondents undecided about which leader they trusted most.
It is an indication that this category of voters, 25.6 per cent of the MaltaToday survey respondents, remain sceptical of government’s performance: only 28 per cent of this group expressed approval of Lawrence Gonzi’s performance as finance minister.
But Gonzi was equally as dismal in his performance as finance minister in the eyes of those respondents – 40 per cent – who rated him the party leader they trusted the most.
He got a positive rating from 68 per cent of those respondents who preferred him to Alfred Sant and Harry Vassallo.
But Gonzi last week also emerged as the minister with second worst rating by all respondents overall, earning him a 39 per cent approval rate as finance minister – second to the minister for investments Austin Gatt.
Amongst those respondents who had the most trust in him, Gonzi still lags behind: ninth out of the 13 cabinet members. Not surprisingly Gonzi hits rock bottom with respondents most trusting of Labour leader Alfred Sant, garnering an approval rate of only 11.8 per cent as finance minister. His approval amongst those most trusting of Alternattiva Demokratika chairperson Harry Vassallo, Gonzi is the second least popular minister with an approval rate of 28.6 per cent.
Top Cristina, unpopular Gatt
The Minister for Family and Social Solidarity Dolores Cristina has turned out to be the best-rated minister amongst respondents of all political shades.
Cristina is quite popular among middle of the road voters. In fact she manages to get a positive rating from 58 per cent of undecided respondents. She even manages to convince 54 per cent of AD-oriented respondents despite repeated clashes with Harry Vassallo on rent reform.
Cristina is also in the good books of a remarkable 47 per cent of Labour-oriented respondents who declared their trust in Alfred Sant, eight points more than the second Labour favourite – minister for urban development and transport Jesmond Mugliett.
On the opposite end of the scale is unpopular investments, industry and IT minister Austin Gatt. Amongst undecided voters he hits rock bottom with a poor approval rate of 20 per cent of respondents. He even does not manage to avoid the relegation zone among all categories of voters, with the notable exception of respondents preferring Harry Vassallo.
Among the Greens, Gatt occupies a mid-table seventh place position, where his reformist zeal could be striking a chord with a substantial minority of Harry Vassallo fans. But it seems like his abrasive style is putting off a substantial minority of Nationalists and an overwhelming majority of undecided respondents.
And despite being the target of continuous attacks by the opposition over the Sea Malta privatisation, Gatt gets a better rating than George Pullicino or Lawrence Gonzi amongst those most trusting of Alfred Sant.
What should preoccupy Gatt most is the very low 62.3 per cent approval rating among respondents opting for Gonzi – amongst PN-friendly respondents, all other ministers except Censu Galea beat Gatt’s performance.
Communications and Competitiveness minister Censu Galea’s low ranking can be attributed to the obscure nature of his ministry – several respondents did not have a clue what his portfolio consisted of.
Good roads, good minister
Minister responsible for roads Jesmond Mugliett has ranked second overall as the minister with the highest approval rating, although amongst those respondents most trusting in Gonzi, Mugliett comes in fifth.
He makes up for this by scoring high amongst Labour and AD-oriented respondents. In these two categories Mugliett emerges as the second favourite minister after Cristina. Mugliett’s road-building mission seems to have endeared him with red and green drivers.
Despite numerous accusations of financial mismanagement and favouritism, the charismatic and former leadership contender Louis Galea emerges as the third best-rated Minister among those opting for Gonzi.
The education minister also gets a relatively high approval rate of 53 per cent among undecided respondents, showing an ability to communicate with non Nationalists.
Environment minister George Pullicino is only beaten by his own Prime Minister as the bête noir of Labour-friendly respondents, even less popular than Austin Gatt – Pullicino has been recently singled out on Super One for his role in the siting of the Sant Antnin recycling plant.
But surprisingly, 43 per cent of Green respondents give him a positive rating, despite ongoing clashes between Vassallo and Pullicino, who emerges fourth favourite amongst respondents most trusting of Vassallo. He takes a comfortable mid-table position with pro-Gonzi respondents, well below Cristina but keeping himself away from the relegation zone occupied by resources and infrastructure minister Ninu Zammit, Austin Gatt and Censu Galea.
Deputy Prime Minister and home affairs and justice minister Tonio Borg, who has recently distinguished himself by speaking tough on immigration, manages to get in championship pool among all categories of voters. His name ranks in the first four places among all categories of respondents.
He surprisingly even gets a 50 per cent approval from the those opting for the liberal Harry Vassallo, who stands for many of the things Tonio Borg abhors.
And with an approval rate of 83 per cent among PN-friendly voters, Gozo minister Giovanna Debono has proved she is not merely a Gozitan phenomenon. Despite a reputation for patronage and clientelism, she manages to avoid bottom place among all categories of voters.
Health minister Louis Deguara faces relegation troubles especially in the pro-Vassallo and undecided league tables. Associated with the unfinished Mater Dei hospital and a protracted reaction on the Tamiflu anti-viral orders for the flu pandemic, Deguara gets a very poor 25 per cent approval among undecided respondents.
The survey has also shown that respondents were capable of rising above partisan divides: nearly half the respondents who expressed more trust in Alfred Sant have not refrained from giving a positive assessment to a PN minister like Cristina, whilst a number of those who expressed more trust in Gonzi refrained from giving positive assessments to his ministers.
jdebono@mediatoday.com.mt
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