The absolute majority of respondents to an online poll by The Times believe the Labour Party would win a general election if it were to be held now.
A total of 53.4 per cent said the outcome of the local council elections, held last weekend, would be reflected in a general election.
A quarter (25.4 per cent) disagreed with this reasoning and 21.1 per cent said the Nationalist Party's defeat at the local polls would not necessarily be mirrored in a general election.
At Saturday's elections, the MLP won 53.2 per cent of the first preference votes with the PN trailing at 44 per cent and Alternattiva Demokratika winning 1.73 per cent.
One respondent said the PN should learn a "tough" lesson from the local elections outcome and step down from its "pedestal".
Another reasoned that the MLP supporters who abstained from voting in the last general election did so because of the issue of EU membership. "These voters will vote Labour again. The floaters will not vote for the PN as many people are dissatisfied," he argued.
Even a mediocre opposition becomes a feasible alternative when a political party has been in power for nearly 20 years, one respondent remarked.
Another said he believed the MLP is poised to win a landslide victory come the next general election. The PN, he said, was now akin to a vehicle sliding down a steep slope with defective brakes - and in three years' time, the MLP would garner 66 per cent of the votes.
Some people saw an amusing trend emanating from the elections in Malta.
"In my opinion, the MLP will continue winning the local elections while the PN will win the central government. And all Malta will be happy for once."
A St Paul's Bay respondent said he opted out of voting last Saturday because he felt unhappy at the way his local council was run.
"But if I had to vote in a general election, I would vote PN which I believe at the moment is doing a fine, though unpopular job."
Another said that the presence of parties in local councils was creating pique and distracting from the councils' proper functions - as well as acting as a disincentive to voting. "I for one would not be bothered to vote in the local council elections but will definitely vote PN in a general election," he added.
Some respondents refused to be swayed by the result of the local election results.
"The majority of the electorate on a national scale still do not trust the MLP to govern," one said.
Another respondent said the vast majority of PN supporters are actually no PN supporters but come the general election they usually choose a safe and predictable leadership for the country.
Others believe the PN will claw its way back to become the most popular party. By election time, the new roads would be completed, tax compliance would be at its best and the deficit would be reined in. "The PN still has time to work hand in hand with the public in order to live up to expectations... Still, beware - the PN's time is running out."