MaltaToday survey: The undecided voter and the rule of law

The Labour Party’s messages on the rule of law appear to enjoy more traction than those of its adversaries, according to a perceptions survey by MaltaToday.

The results published last Sunday showed that an absolute majority (51.5%) disagreed ‘there is a climate of fear in the country after Daphne Caruana Galizia’s murder’. An even larger absolute majority (55.7%) disagreed with the statement that ‘Malta is a mafia state’.

A relative majority of 41.5% agreed the ‘Police Commissioner is performing his job well’ while a tighter result showed a relative majority disagreeing with the statement that ‘everywhere you look there is corruption’.

The results also showed a polarising divide along party lines although PL voters in the last election proved to be stronger supporters of their party’s line than PN voters of theirs.

The survey also asked people how they would vote if an election were to be held tomorrow and the findings gave the PL a comfortable lead over the PN – 49.8% to 20.7%. However, as many as there were PN supporters, there were those who said they would not vote or were undecided. These people are more likely to have voted PN in the general election.

A breakdown of this category according to the perceptions survey reveals interesting distinctions between non-voters and the undecided. While non-voters tended to follow the results of PN voters, the undecided displayed more divergent views, which at times were modelled on the outcome for PL voters.

‘There is a climate of fear in the country after Daphne Caruana Galizia’s murder’

Non-voters are almost evenly split with a slight majority agreeing with this statement. While 36.9% agreed, 32.2% disagreed and 30.9% fell in the middle category.

Among the undecided the level of agreement dropped to 19.1% with a larger cohort occupying the middle ground (47.3%) and 30.7% disagreeing there was a climate of fear in the country.

‘The Police Commissioner is performing his job well’

There was no hesitation in either category with strong majorities disagreeing with this statement. The results here tally perfectly with the results of PN voters in the last election, which showed that 77.8% disagreed with the statement. Only 12.8% of non-voters and 20.2% of the undecided agreed the Police Commissioner is doing a good job.

‘Malta is a mafia state’

The results for non-voters showed that 28.9% agreed with the statement as opposed to 13.3% who disagreed. An absolute majority occupied the middle ground. The results for non-voters mimicked those of PN voters. This contrasted with the findings for undecided voters where a relative majority (41.7%) disagreed Malta was a mafia state with only 12.2% agreeing with the statement.

‘Everywhere you look there is corruption’

Once again there was disparity between non-voters and the undecided with the former exhibiting results closer to those of PN voters. Among non-voters, 35.9% agreed corruption was everywhere while only 8.7% disagreed. There was a smaller disparity among the undecided where 27.3% agreed corruption was everywhere and 24.6% disagreed.

‘The country is doing well’

The vast majority of non-voters (65%) stood in the middle ground as 21.2% agreed with the statement and 12.9% disagreed. On the other hand, 41.1% of the undecided agreed the country was doing well against 26.5% who disagreed with the statement. The results for non-voters were closer to the results of PN voters.