Sunday, December 01, 2019

It-Torċa survey: Muscat is less popular than Labour - Michael Briguglio

The front page of GWU newspaper it-Torċa should have read 'Muscat less popular than Labour', but instead it tried to put on a brave face in relation to his untenable situation. 

Some numbers from it-Torċa:

- 46.5 per cent want Muscat to stay on as Prime Minister.

- Muscat's trust rating has gone down from 58 per cent in September to 51.3 per cent now.

- Gap between the two major parties is declining and close to 2017 election levels. Last September PL was at 58.1 per cent of the votes, with the PN being close to 39 per cent. Now, 55.5 per cent are saying they would vote Labour, whilst 42.7 per cent said they would vote PN. This translates into a lead of 12.8 per cent for Labour, or a majority of 40,000 votes, according to statistician Vince Marmara. 

Some other numbers:


- In the 2017 General elections Labour won 55.04 per cent of votes, with the Forza Nazzjonali (PN+PD) winning 43.68 per cent.

- In the 2019 MEP elections, Labour won 54.29 per cent of votes, with the PN winning 37.9 per cent. 

Around 100,000 registered voters did not vote in the 2019 MEP elections.  They represent 27.3 per cent of the vote, the highest ever abstention rate since the introduction of European elections in Malta in 2004.


Even though surveys are important tools to gauge people's perceptions, they cannot tell us everything about politics. For example, they cannot predict sudden political shifts and historic changes.


In the meantime I reiterate that Muscat may well be using this time left as Prime Minister to manouver to protect the gang of crooks. We had similar tricks in the past years. His clear conflict of interests tell us that he should resign or be removed from Prime Minister immediately. 

For every day he remains gripped to the role of Prime Minister, we should stand up to be counted. 

Unity, opposition to Muscat both externally and internally, numbers and commitment are key factors to dethrone him.