Roberta Metsola is most trusted Maltese MEP

Roberta Metsola has emerged as the most trusted MEP among Maltese voters with a score of 22% in a MaltaToday survey. 

But despite the Nationalist MEP’s strong international profile as president of the European Parliament, she only leads Labour MEP Alex Agius Saliba by five points. 

However, the survey found that 25% of the electorate trusts none of the six incumbent MEPs. 

And while Agius Saliba is at par with Metsola among male and low-income earners, he outstrips the EU parliament president among over 65-year-olds. 

In contrast, Metsola leads Agius Saliba by eight points among female respondents and by 11 points among 16- to 35-year-olds. 

The survey also shows a sharp class divide, with Metsola’s trust rating increasing substantially among higher income groups. 

Agius Saliba is level with Metsola among those declaring a monthly income of between €1,000 and €2,000. But Metsola’s trust rating increases from less than 20% among those earning less than €2,000 to 36% among those earning more than €4,000. 

A geographical breakdown also shows Agius Saliba leading in the Labour-leaning Southern Harbour (22%) and Southeastern regions (34%). Saliba is also leading in the more heterogenous Western region, which includes towns like Żebbuġ and Attard (33%). 

On the other hand, Metsola leads in the PN-leaning Northern (18%) and North Harbour regions (24%) and peaks in the electorally strategic Gozo region (43%). 

A breakdown by education shows Metsola leading by 16 points among the tertiary educated but leading by a whisker among both the secondary and the post-secondary educated. 

On his part Saliba leads by 11 points among those with a primary level of education, who are mostly pensioners. 

Not spared the disenchantment 

But while Metsola and Agius Saliba emerge as the two front runners among incumbents in their respective parties, the survey shows that MEPs are not spared from widespread disenchantment with the political class. 

In this case, a staggering 25% declared having no trust in any of the six incumbents while 23% replied ‘Don’t Know’. This suggest that nearly half of voters could not name an MEP they can trust.    

The survey also suggests greater disenchantment among those who voted for the Labour Party in the 2022 general election. Among these voters, 28% do not trust any of the current MEPs. In contrast only 12% of PN voters have no trust in any serving MEP. 

But Metsola who is trusted by 45% of PN voters in 2022, does make limited inroads among non-voters in the 2022 general election. 

A significant 20% of non-voters in the 2022 general election trust her the most but enjoys less support among current non-voters among which she is trusted by 13%. 

Agius Saliba who is trusted by 35% of 2022 PL voters makes less inroads among current non-voters (7%) and non-voters in 2022 (4%). 

Metsola is also marginally more trusted by Labour voters in 2022 (5%) than Aguis Saliba is trusted by PN voters (1%). 

Leaders of the pack  

The survey also clearly indicates that Metsola and Agius Saliba start the race for re-election with a clear advantage over the other incumbents in their respective camps. 

But the survey also shows that an opening exists for new entrants in both parties among respondents in both camps who are either undecided or have no trust in current MEPs. These amount to 49% of Labour voters in 2022 and to 38% of PN voters. 

But when the choice is limited to the current crop of MEPs, both front runners lack any serious competition.  

Metsola enjoys a 31-point lead over veteran MEP David Casa who is still trusted by a solid 14% of PN voters and by over a tenth of PN voters in the Northern and North Harbour regions. But Casa enjoys little appeal among non-voters. 

In the PL, Agius Saliba faces even less internal competition, with his nearest ‘rival’ being Alfred Sant who will not seek re-election in the June election. 

Sant a former Labour leader is most trusted by 7% of PL voters. But in an indication that he still holds some appeal over disenchanted Labour voters, he also enjoys the trust of 4% of current non-voters. 

Overall, Labour incumbents Josianne Cutajar and Cyrus Engerer fall short of the 3% mark and therefore their scores fall within the survey’s margin of error, which makes it hard to draw any conclusions on their result.   

Significantly, among Labour voters in 2022, both Cutajar (4.7%) and Engerer (1.4%) enjoy a lower level of trust than that enjoyed by Roberta Metsola (5.3%). On a regional level Cutajar only manages to leave a mark in her native Gozo where she is most trusted by 5% of respondents.   

Metsola given 3 marks out 5 

Respondents were also asked to give a rating from 0 (lowest) to 5 (highest) to the EU’s three top officials; namely European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, EU Council President Charles Michel and EU Parliament President Roberta Metsola. 

A whopping 61% could not give Von der Leyen a rating while a stunning 80% could not rate Charles Michel, in a clear indication that most Maltese respondents are not so keen on EU politics. 

Among the small minority of respondents who gave an answer the two top EU politicians are given a rating of 2.7 out 5. 

As expected, the Maltese were more forthcoming in rating Metsola’s performance even if 39% replied ‘Don’t Know’. 

Among the 61% who rated Metsola’s performance as EU Parliament President, the Maltese politician was given a favourable rating of 3 out of 5.   

Metsola receives a rating of 3.9 among PN voters in 2022 and 2.7 among current non-voters. Her rating drops to 2.1 among Labour voters. 

Metsola’s overall favourable rating is conditioned by the fact that 41% of PL voters in 2022 and 50% of current non-voters did not even bother rating Metsola’s performance. 

This suggests that Metsola’s relatively high rating reflects the higher likelihood of PN voters to rate her performance. 

And despite Metsola’s high profile in the local and international scene and expectations that she could eventually take on the PN leadership, 28% of PN voters still could not rate her performance as EU parliament president. 

Only 8% back EU policy on Gaza 

Respondents were also asked to rate the EU’s collective response to the current war in Gaza. 

In a reflection of the lack of cohesion on this issue, 69% could not express a judgement. 

This result reflects the different position taken between staunch supporters of Israel like Germany who were reticent on calling for a ceasefire and countries like Spain, France Belgium, Malta and Ireland who have supported calls for a ceasefire. 

As a result of these disagreements the EU has limited itself to calling for ‘humanitarian pauses.’ 

The result also reflects the contrast between the response of top officials like Von der Leyen and Roberta Metsola who rushed to Israel in the early days of the war to offer their unwavering support to Israel and the more nuanced stance of the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs Josep Borrell who condemned Hamas but immediately called for restraint on Israel’s part. 

Moreover, 23% expressed a negative judgement because they perceive the EU to be too close to the Israeli position while only 8% expressed a positive verdict. 

Only 0.4% expressed a negative judgement because they perceive a pro-Palestinian bias in the EU’s collective response to the crisis. 

Tertiary educated voters were the most scathing in their negative judgement of the EU’s position. Among this category 31% expressed a negative judgment in view of the block’s pro-Israeli bias. 

Similarly, 35% of those earning an income of between €2,000 and €3,000 also expressed a negative judgement for the same reason. 

PN voters in 2022 were also more likely to express a positive judgement on the EU’s response to the crisis (16%) in contrast to just 4% of Labour voters. And while 17% of PN voters expressed a negative judgment, this sentiment was expressed by 27% of PL voters. 26% of current non-voters also expressed a negative judgement on the EU’s response to the crisis.