Malta could have a coalition government if the outcome of an online poll of The Times readers were to materialise.
Just over four in 10 of the respondents said they would vote for the Nationalist Party, a third for Labour, while Alternattiva Demokratika got a whopping 10 per cent of preferences. The remainder said they would vote for none of the parties.
Over 6,100 votes were cast in the five-day timesofmalta.com poll, an absolute record. The poll is not a scientific one and its result is not representative of the population's voting intentions.
If no one party obtains an absolute majority of votes in the coming general election, a coalition government would have to be formed in the event of Alternattiva Demokratika winning a number of seats in Parliament. Whether AD would be able to form a coalition government with the PN or the MLP would depend on the parliamentary strength of the two main parties. However, if AD fail to get any seats, then the party with a relative majority of votes would be entitled to an absolute majority of seats.
Those who said they would vote for the Nationalists mainly based their decision on two factors - that a government led by Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi had regenerated the economy, while the rest argued that they could never trust the Labour Party.
A Labour government with Alfred Sant at the helm will be no different to the Socialist one in the 1980s, one person warned.
Many said they would choose the Nationalist Party because it was the lesser of the two "evils", though one woman said she would voting Labour for the first time.
On the other hand, another reader accused the Labour Party of lacking vision and ideas.
"I see no reason why I should not vote for the PN as the economy and the tourism sector are on their feet again and foreign companies are investing millions."
Another argued that the leadership qualities of Dr Gonzi combined with Malta's EU membership had brought a change in the country's fortunes.
Some individuals said they had switched allegiances from the PN to AD, with one reader expressing disgust at the rampant construction and lack of environmentally friendly initiatives.
"My vote goes for AD, because Maltese politics needs to be shaken out of the present duopoly," one respondent said.
Others, however, said it was time to give Labour a chance, after nearly 20 years of Nationalist governments.
Corruption was rife and ideas lacking, one Labour supporter said. Another said it was very worrying that the PN could not even garner 50 per cent of the vote in a poll run by The Times.
Some readers asked why the poll had omitted the new Alleanza Nazzjonali, since the new party is bound to embrace disgruntled PN and MLP supporters.
There are some who are driven by petty issues. An individual, who signed his name and gave his car number, said he would not be voting for the PN because of an "offensive" parking infringement in Gozo.