Former minister issues warning to Labour as survey shows narrowing lead
New survey shows no party holds an absolute majority
Updated 10.17am with comments by Edward Zammit Lewis.
A survey showing that neither of Malta's big political parties commands an absolute majority drew a sharp warning to the Labour Party from former minister Edward Zammit Lewis on Sunday.
MaltaToday, which commissioned the survey, reported that according to current voting intentions, the Labour Party is supported by 48.7%, and the PN by 46.1%.
ADPD is backed by 4.1% and Momentum by 1.2%.
Prime Minister Robert Abela enjoys a trust rating of 45.2% and PN leader Alex Borg is at 35.3%.
The newspaper said Labour has not benefited from a post-budget bounce and its survey lead of 7,600 votes is actually lower than the 8,400 gap in its last survey a few months ago.
The PN's gains are in Gozo and northern and western districts. The PN leads Labour among younger voters, but has lost some support to smaller parties.
Labour suffered from an increase in former supporters who claimed they would not vote.
The survey outcome is similar to the state of the parties after the 2024 MEP elections but Labour had since increased its support, only to see it decline again.
Just last month a Times of Malta survey showed Labour at 50.1% and the PN at 45.1%, giving Labour a lead of 15,000 votes.
In the 2022 general election, Labour won with 55.1% of the vote, a lead of 39,474 votes.
Former minister says Labour should be worried
Among those who reacted to the survey findings was former Labour minister Edward Zammit Lewis.
He wrote on Facebook that after such a good budget one would not have any idea of politics, or not be a Labourite, not to be worried.
"It is worrying that a party which has done so much good should be at risk of seeing the helm of the country slipped from its hands," he said.
"We must stop annoying people through stubbornness on issues which people clearly do not support; we must truly listen to and include the people who were needlessly sidelined and Labourites whose basic needs we ignored," he said.
Zammit Lewis said he remained available to help "if given the chance" so that Labour could triumph once more.