One in every seven people believe it is “justifiable” for politicians to make "morally dubious" decisions that show favouritism for individuals, according to a new University of Malta survey.

The survey carried out by the Faculty for Social Wellbeing in October asked 600 people whether they considered political decisions that were morally dubious but benefit parts of the population including their own families were ever justified.

Some 15 per cent of respondents said they were justifiable in some form: seven per cent said they were "a bit justifiable", five per cent said "justifiable" and three per cent "very justifiable".

Even though the majority, 69 per cent, said that such decisions were "never justifiable", Andrew Azzopardi – Dean of the Faculty for Social Wellbeing that commissioned the survey – said the results were still worrying.

“I feel 15 per cent is not a small number. These are the ones admitting that they feel that way. So the number is probably higher… We still seem to have a society that is completely hooked on politicians, whether it is to have a no-entry sign removed, or to ask for a job for a relative. But, on the other hand, we feel that this is not right and shouldn’t be the case.”

He said that it could mean “the system coerces us into behaving in that way or else maybe our civil service is not able to respond effectively and efficiently to what the citizens need.” While people might recognize the need to be “morally upright”, the political system “might be dragging us down”, he argued.   

What voters want

The survey also gave an insight into why people vote the way they do. It showed that a person's family's loyalty to a political party is one of the factors people take into account before casting their vote. 

When asked what factors they considered when deciding which political party to vote for, the majority replied the economy (61 per cent) and their family’s financial situation (60 per cent).

This was followed by the party’s beliefs (52 per cent), the party leader (43 per cent) and their family’s loyalty to a particular party (36 per cent).

Older respondents aged between 56 and 65 gave less weight to the leader (29 per cent) compared to 16 to 25-year-olds (47 per cent).

Asked how satisfied they are with their life, 41 per cent are "very satisfied", 34 per cent "satisfied", 20 per cent "neutral" and the rest are not satisfied. 

The older the age group, the more are "very satisfied" with the number gradually increasing from 27 per cent for 16 to 25-year-olds to 38 per cent for those age 46 to 55 and 73 per cent for those over 66.

The faculty commissioned regular surveys to keep tabs on society and to understand future areas of research. In the latest of these surveys, carried out last month by statistician Vincent Marmara, 600 people were interviewed about their views on politics and their quality of life. The sample is representative of the population. 

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