Maltese mistrust in political parties increases by 23% since May

The mistrust amongst the Maltese population in political parties has increased by 23 per cent since May of this year, fieldwork carried out in November by Eurostat shows.

Last May, incidentally in the run up towards the snap general election, research found that 30 per cent of Maltese ‘tended to trust political parties’ while 42 per cent did not.

In comparison, the same research in November of this year found that 21 per cent of respondents tend to trust political parties, whilst 65 per cent tend not to trust political parties; the latter an increase of 23 per cent since spring.

The number of people who marked that they ‘don’t know’ dropped by 14 per cent. In the spring of 2017, 48 per cent marked ‘don’t know’, whilst 14 per cent marked that option in autumn.

With 21 per cent, Malta is slightly above the EU average of 18 per cent when it comes to trusting their government.

The report features a series of questions into the trust of different European countries in certain institutions; including the media, the government, political parties, parliament, the legal system and the police, amongst others.

Keeping context in mind, many events took place happened throughout the six months between May and November, events that could explain the shifting figures. These include the general elections, the change in leadership of the Nationalist Party, the creation of a third political party and the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia.

Trust in government decreases by 7%

Trust in the Maltese government has decreased by 7 per cent since May of this year. In May, 58 per cent of respondents replied that they ‘tend to trust’ the Maltese government, whilst 30 per cent said they ‘tend not to trust’ the Maltese government. 12 per cent said they ‘don’t know’.

In November, 51 per cent of Malta’s respondents said they ‘tend to trust’ the government whilst 35 per cent said that they ‘tend to not trust’ it. 14 per cent responded that they ‘don’t know’.

Malta still ranks over the EU average, where 36 per cent claim that they tend to trust their government. Luxembourg ranked first in November, with 68 per cent showing trust.

Trust in written press second lowest in EU, up by 3 %

When it comes to the media, Malta shows a worrying 31 per cent trust in the written press and ranks second lowest from all EU countries, falling behind the United Kingdom, where only 23 per cent tend to trust the written press.

On the high end of the ranking list, Netherlands ranked first with 71 per cent tending to trust the written press.

Although less than one third of Maltese respondents depicted trust in the written press, the number has increased by 3 per cent since May, where 28 per cent claimed that they tend to trust the written press.

In the November report, 42 per cent replied that they tend not to trust the written press, and 27 per cent replied that they ‘don’t know’.

Trust in police, legal system remains below EU average, decreases since May

In November 2017, the EU averages showed that 72 per cent of EU citizens tend to trust the police in their respective countries. Malta’s trust in police remains much lower than the EU average, where 53 per cent tend to trust the institution.

This figure is down by three points since May, where 56 per cent shows trust in the police.

In November, 40 per cent replied that they tend to not trust the police, whilst in May 34 per cent of respondents answered in that manner.

Meanwhile, a decrease of 10% of respondents ‘tend to trust’ Malta’s legal system since last May, where 45% articulated their trust in the legal system, which then fell to 35% in November.

Meanwhile 11% more respondents wrote that they ‘tend not to trust’ the legal system when comparing the two months.

The EU average for trust in the legal system was marked as 50 in November.

Trust in national parliament above EU average, also declines since May

Compared to an EU average of 35 per cent, the trust in Maltese parliament ranks higher at 47 per cent, yet has still experienced a 6 per cent decline since May’s study.

In November, 47 per cent marked that they ‘tend to trust’ Maltese parliament, whilst 35 per cent marked that they ‘tend not to trust’ Maltese parliament, an increase by 5 per cent since May. 18 per cent claimed they ‘don’t know.’