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I have become a regular reader of your interesting newspaper. I was under the impression that the content was equidistant from both parties and objective as possible. I must admit that I was quite disappointed today.
Your results for the monthly survey published on 10 December 2006 left me quite astonished and with no other option but to question seriously the source. It is my view that it is a blatant offence to the intelligence of your readers to say that just because somebody leaked details of topics discussed during the MLP executive, the MLP scored heavy losses in your survey. I would have willingly accepted these results had the leaked information shed light on some sinister and evil doings by one of the MLP frontliners but as far as I can recall, nothing of the sort transpires. Although of socialist beliefs, I am in no way a person to be led by the nose by anyone, but I would appreciate knowing – going by your same yardstick – how many percentage points the PN gained when for example we learned that a minister contracted a company belonging to a convict’s family for the cleaning of our Law Courts. It would also be interesting to discover how many points the PN gained in your survey after ex-Premier now President was found guilty and fined Lm2,000 for libel. I am confident that you would agree with me that the list of similar incidents is quite long.
So, it is quite ridiculous to say the least that heavy percentage points were lost just because somebody squealed the info of a meeting. I trust you will treat your readers with more respect and if necessary replace your interview sample with more open-minded people so that your results are more credible.
Tony Ellul
Naxxar
Editorial note: We appreciate Mr Ellul’s interest in MaltaToday’s interpretation of the survey results, however we have to inform our correspondent that MaltaToday always assumes full responsibility for the surveys which are carried out according to a scientific methodology. The survey was carried out according to the same methodology used in other surveys held in the previous months.
We therefore strongly reject any insinuation doubting the “source” of the survey.
These same surveys have shown the MLP in the lead from June to November. This particular survey did not in any way show any shift towards the PN since the PN only gained 1.4% from the previous month while the MLP lost 10 percentage points.
In the past year of monthly surveys, the MLP has always been ahead in all surveys held, except December 2005, May 2006 and December 2006. In all other surveys carried by MaltaToday the MLP was ahead.
The MLP’s decline was accompanied by an increase of undecided voters. One has to keep in mind the survey’s substantial margin of error – 5.7% as stated in the methodological note accompanying every survey conducted by this newspaper. |
