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James Debono
The Malta Labour Party has cut deep in to the Nationalist Party’s lead in Gozo: while back in 2003 the gap between the two parties amounted to an unsurpassable 18 per cent, now it amounts to just 4.5 per cent.
At the moment the PN enjoys the support of 31 per cent of Gozitan respondents to the MaltaToday survey, while the MLP is trailing at 26 per cent. Yet 40.5 per cent of Gozitan respondents are either undecided or intend not to vote in a forthcoming election. It will be this category of voters which will finally determine whether Labour can snatch a surprise third seat from the island.
The large number of undecided and non-voters is an indication that Gozo is not immune from the current wave of disenchantment effecting the whole country. When only undecided respondents and non-voters are taken out of the equation, the PN still manages a majority of 52 per cent – a far cry from the 59 per cent it scored in 2003. Substantial gains are scored by the MLP (3.3 per cent) and by the Greens (3.7 per cent).
Yet despite the PN’s decline, Lawrence Gonzi still manages to beat his rival Alfred Sant as the most trusted political leader in Gozo. While Gonzi is 9 percentage points more popular than his own party, Alfred Sant is half a percentage point less popular than his own party. AD chairperson Harry Vassallo manages to score a trust rating of 6 per cent in an island where his party barely managed 0.4 per cent in the last general elections. This could be a reflection of a greater environmental conscience among Gozitans, which had also seen the first Green councillor being elected in Sannat in March.
Despite the PN’s declining fortunes, Minister Giovanna Debono is still trusted by 54 per cent of Gozitans. While the Gozitan minister is trusted by 90 per cent of Nationalist voters, her trust rating falls to 28 per cent among Labourites. Among those set not to vote in a forthcoming election, Debono enjoys the least level of confidence at 27.8 per cent. On the other hand, among the undecided her trust rating rises to 63.1 per cent. This could be an indication that in Gozo those intending not to vote are the most disenchanted category of voters.
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