From the online comments board

PL’s lead shrinks, but PN fails to gain ground

A Times of Malta survey shows PL leads by around 23,000 votes, share of non-voters balloons to 27 per cent.

In spite of the entrenched disgusting protection by national law-enforcing institutions, time is up for the corrupt PL. Time is ripe for a new PN leadership; a new PN, or a split and separate regrouping of current one; a new third party with a national political agenda; a coalition government, which may mean a takeover of vital areas of national interests by a foreign government through their ‘New Maltese’ agents. Blood and sweat beckons. – JJ Micallef

I think that there are many people out there who are afraid or very cautious to express their true sentiments, even to surveys. And the days when many would blindly follow the Pied Piper are clearly diminishing. The series of negative events, reports and revelations are rapidly eroding public trust – the key to popular support. – Chris Agius

Assuming the accuracy of the figures, this seems to be a protest vote but not an indication of how the electorate will vote at the next election. Some years away! Even so, Labour is well ahead. We must recall the small margin that returned Gonzi to government in 2008. – Joseph Carmel Chetcuti

The PN failed to gain ground with PL’s unpopularity. For the PN, it is better to first bring back its own abstentions rather than the PL’s. That is what is wrong with the PN. Too arrogant to admit that the Trojan horse is their hope of salvation. Too arrogant to say sorry.

File photo

How can Grech walk beside Delia without any remorse for what he and his supporters did to Malta, the PN, Delia and Delia’s supporters? Sorry, it’s not convincing at all. – M. Agius

A day is a long time in politics, and four years are an eternity to implement damage control for actions committed before the current legislature’s time. It seems that whatever public scandal crops up, as things stand today within the PN, they will never win an election, and democracy is slowly going the way of the dodo in Malta.

Furthermore, my belief is that even with Metsola as party leader, things will not change much, except maybe to finally heal the wounds after what has been an almost 10-year internal war. The longer the PN takes to drastically reinvent itself from top to bottom and turn itself inside out, the longer this country will remain without a serious opposition party to keep the government on its toes.

It is my belief that only when the barra barra is directed with equivalent zeal towards the internal holy monarchy currently in control of the PN, that things will start to change. – Alan Castillo

PN had a good leader, who is still today trusted more than Bernard Grech or Roberta Metsola by important segments of the population. PN needs to split, and the liberals and Blue Heroes need to leave. They left when Delia was elected, and they should never have been accepted back.

The PN is a conservative party and cannot survive if the fractures continue. Communists and extreme liberals need to find their own way. – Jean K. Soler