George Pullicino gets 11% approval from respondents to MaltaToday’s survey
James Debono George Pullicino, the minister responsible for resources and rural affairs, is officially the most trusted nanny among the current crop of ministers, a MaltaToday survey reveals.
Faced with the dire prospect of leaving their child with a government minister (in some calamitous scenario in which all babysitters decide to strike and refuse to take charge of any kids), only 48% of respondents could mention a minister with whom they would trust their child.
And surprisingly, Pullicino manages to surpass the two female cabinet members: Education Minister Dolores Cristina and Gozo Minister Giovanna Debono.
“With Pullicino I am sure that my son will never go hungry, and the minister’s round shape will provide warmth and shelter,” a female respondent casually remarked after making her choice.
In a veritable inversion of Lawrence Gonzi’s attempt to prop himself above his ministers in the 2008 general election, Pullicino managed to beat his boss Lawrence into second place when it comes to babysitting skills.
Often photographed with children in environmental initiatives such as the ‘Tree 4 U’ campaign, he even manages to beat the competition of Dolores Cristina, who is responsible for the education of Maltese children. But this was not the case among female respondents, who were slightly more prone to choose Cristina over Pullicino, who was the favourite babysitter among men. “As minister responsible for education, she will do a good job as a nanny,” a female respondent said.
Only two male respondents out of 300 chose the abrasive minister for transport, infrastructure and communications Austin Gatt as a babysitter. Deputy Prime Minister Tonio Borg was the second least popular nanny in the cabinet.
Social Policy Minister John Dalli was also considerably more popular among males than females. “He has a jolly face and sense of humour,” one male respondent said.
Methodology The survey was conducted between 9 and 16 December. 531 respondents were contacted by telephone and 300 accepted to be interviewed. The results were weighed to reflect the age and sex balance of the population as represented in the 2008 demographic review published by the National Statistics Office. The survey has a margin of error of +/-5.7%.
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