The Malta Labour Party is leading the Nationalist Party by almost six points, according to a poll commissioned by the weekly TV show Xarabank.

The survey, conducted by Malta Polls, shows that if a general election were held tomorrow, 28 per cent of electors would vote for the MLP, 22.1 per cent for the PN and 3.2 per cent for Alternattiva Demokratika. A considerable chunk of respondents, 28 per cent, said they were undecided and 18.6 per cent said they would not vote.

The findings of the survey - The Maltese, Politics And The EU - will be announced during this evening's Xarabank programme on TVM where the sole guest will be Labour leader Alfred Sant.

According to the study, Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi is still the most trusted leader, enjoying the confidence of 31.2 per cent of respondents. Dr Sant followed closely with 30.2 per cent and AD's chairman Harry Vassallo garnered 3.2 per cent of the support. Over 25 per cent said they did not trust any of the leaders and 10.3 per cent said they were undecided.

Judging by the findings, the country's biggest problem seems to be unemployment; 23.4 per cent of the respondents said so. This was followed by the government's deficit (22.6 per cent), the cost of living (nine per cent), the economy (2.6 per cent), taxes (2.3 per cent), the roads (1.7 per cent), illegal immigration (1.5 per cent) and the European Union (1.2 per cent).

The respondents were also asked how they would vote if another EU referendum was held tomorrow.

Those in favour amounted to 40.6 per cent as against 40 per cent who would say no.

The percentage of those who said they would not vote amounted to 10.9 per cent and one per cent said they would invalidate their vote; 6.6 per cent of the sample was undecided and 0.9 per cent did not reply.