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James Debono
As memories of enthusiastic EU flag-waving youths singing ‘Iva ghall-Ewropa’ fade down memory lane, younger people are increasingly being swayed by the Malta Labour Party’s electoral jingle from Russia’s first dykes of the pop scene, TaTu.
In a clear reversal of pre-EU referendum trends, Labour and its leader are emerging as the choice of the younger generations, according to results of this month’s MaltaToday survey.
Bolstered by his party’s victory in last month’s local elections, MLP leader Alfred Sant scores a better trust rating than PN leader Lawrence Gonzi among those aged below 44 years of age. Within this age bracket Sant enjoys a trust rating of 27 per cent against Gonzi’s 24 per cent.
But in a clear warning to the political class, 31 per cent do not trust any of the three political leaders. Yet overall, when all age groups are included, the PN leader still enjoys a better rating than Alfred Sant does.
But the PN would still lose a forthcoming general election as the MLP enjoys a relative majority of 47 per cent against the PN’s 45 per cent. Alternattiva Demokratika, with its 8 per cent, could emerge as a key player.
Both reds and greens are stronger among the younger generations where the PN hits rock bottom at 30 per cent while the MLP scores an absolute majority of 54 per cent. Within this age bracket the Greens score 16 per cent.
Yet the Greens enjoy the support of only 4 per cent among those aged 44 and over. Labour has not yet managed to make substantial inroads within the older age groups, either.
The older age groups seems less keen on a change of government, with an absolute majority of 53 per cent still opting for the party in government. The next election may well prove to be a clash between generations.
Methodological Note
Respondents were also asked to state their voting intentions if an election is held tomorrow. A total of 455 respondents were randomly selected from the telephone directory. 302 of these respondents accepted to participate in the survey. 21 refused to state their voting intentions while 15 refused to express their trust in political leaders. This survey has a margin of error of +/- 5.7 per cent. The survey was conducted between Monday 27 march and Wednesday 29 January.
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