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Berlusconi asks for poll ratings on Gonzi
MaltaToday ratings were passed on to Italian PM to assess popularity of Maltese prime minister
15 June 2010, 12:00am
Karl Stagno-Navarra
Karl Stagno-Navarra
2 min read
Italy’s Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has turned to MaltaToday surveys as his source of information to compare performance and popularity ratings with his Maltese counterpart, Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi.
Diplomatic sources told MaltaToday that data on Lawrence Gonzi’s popularity levels in Malta compiled by this paper were passed on to the Italian premier after a request made by his cabinet office.
It is understood that Silvio Berlusconi has been given a copy of 7 March, 2010 survey conducted by MaltaToday that showed Lawrence Gonzi’s performance rating judged positively by just 23% of respondents, lagging some 13 points behind PL leader Joseph Muscat, who remains the most trusted political leader.
But Gonzi has recovered some lost ground from a previous survey in September 2009, when his performance was judged positively by just 19%.
The sources said that Berlusconi regularly commissions surveys to gauge popularity levels with all his European partners.
Berlusconi and Prime Minister Gonzi were together last Sunday in Tripoli where the two leaders met with Colonel Gaddafi together with other European leaders to end the spat between Libya and Switzerland.
Recent polls in Italy have shown that although Berlusconi still remains the most popular politician, his popularity has slid to 41% in May, the lowest since he won his third election in 2008, from 43% the previous month.
An IPR marketing poll of 1,000 Italians published last month showed that a recent rift with his party’s co-founder Gianfranco Fini is hurting his popularity, while his government also struggles to convince trade unions over budget cuts to prevent the Greek crisis spreading to Italy.
Last year, Berlusconi called Lawrence Gonzi on his cell phone on a late Sunday afternoon in June, as he stepped in to resolve a spat between Maltaand Italyover who was to accept a number of migrants rescued at sea by a freighter between Maltaand Lampedusa.
Berlusconi, who is 73 will meet Lawrence Gonzi again on Friday, this time in Brusselsfor a European Council meeting for all EU Heads of Government.
mario grillo •
As much as I share Berlusconi's Government and Party's political views, I really do not agree with Berlusconi's obsession with opinion polls. Government's are not there to be popular.......but to take the best decisions in the interest of the nation. The best opinion polls are always the general elections, which by the way I personally have no doubt will again be deservedly won by Mr Berlusconi and his allies.
