Support for the Labour Party has reached astronomical heights, with another survey forecasting it could win the next election by around 100,000 votes.

MaltaToday’s latest survey shows the PL is leading the PN by some 94,000 votes, numbers which tally with a recent Lovin Malta survey carried a few days after the Egrant inquiry’s conclusions were published.

Yet Prime Minister Joseph Muscat has insisted he is taking nothing for granted and is expecting next May’s European Parliament elections to be an “open race”.

“Today’s survey result needs to be taken in the context of unprecedented political events,” the Prime Minister’s spokesperson Kurt Farrugia tweeted. “It is a snapshot of the current situation and does not reflect a real electoral scenario in next year’s European Parliament elections. The margins will be tighter come the elections and it will be an open race, as in all Maltese elections. I can guarantee you that this was Joseph Muscat’s first thought this morning, and his whole team subscribes to it.”

MaltaToday’s survey indicates that people trust the Prime Minister far more than they do Opposition leader Adrian Delia. Muscat’s trust rating stands at 53.9%, up by 1.3 percentage points since the paper’s last survey in June, while Delia’s stands at a dismal 14.8%, down by 8.7 percentage points. This could well reflect the state of infighting within the Nationalist Party brought about by the Egrant inquiry and Delia’s subsequent call on his predecessor Simon Busuttil to resign from the party.

In an interview with The Times of Malta, Delia said the PN must analyse why the surveys are showing such a large gap between the parties. “Surveys are always an indication on the situation on the ground and it would be imprudent to ignore them,” he said. “However, the party must also listen to the man in the street. The PN suffered heavy defeats in the last five years and has been in decline for over 20 years. When last year I took control of the party, I found it in a dire political and financial situation.

We need to analyse why the PN has detached itself from the people, the areas where Labour scored success and if this was part of a strategy of instant gratification to win popularity. It’s like offering sweets to the children even though in the long-term it will harm their health. I am not saying this is the only reason Labour is doing so well but it could be one of them. I want to win people’s trust and the election by persuading them that we are doing what is best for the country.”

What must the PN do to start winning people’s hearts?

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Tim Diacono

Tim is interested in the rapid evolution of human society and is passionate about justice, human rights and cutting-edge political debates. You can follow him on Instagram or Twitter/X at @timdiacono or reach out to him at [email protected]