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7 News maltatoday, SUNDAY, 19 JANUARY 2014 -up for President's job Can you name one person from politics or civil society who you consider as fit to occupy the role of President of the Republic? All respondents (%) Kate Gonzi............................................................. 13.3 Lawrence Gonzi ............................................................ 7 Edwin Grech................................................................. 5 George Vella ..............................................................4.7 Miriam Spiteri Debono ............................................... 4.3 George Abela .............................................................. 3 Maria Camilleri ...........................................................2.7 Marie Louise Coleiro Preca ............................................. 2 Alfred Sant ............................................................... 1.3 Anglu Farrugia ............................................................. 1 Giovanna Debono ......................................................... 1 Karmenu Mifsud Bonnici ................................................ 1 Other politicians ....................................................... 4.4 Civil society names .................................................... 1.3 Don't know ................................................................ 48 PN voters Kate Gonzi............................................................. 29.1 Lawrence Gonzi ........................................................16.3 Other PN candidates ................................................. 11.6 Other PL candidates ................................................... 1.8 Other ....................................................................... 2.3 Don't know ..............................................................38.9 PL Voters Edwin Grech................................................................ 8 Miriam Spiteri Debono ................................................6.6 George Vella ............................................................. 5.8 George Abela .............................................................3.6 Marie Louise Colerio Preca ...........................................2.9 Kate Gonzi................................................................ 2.2 Lawrence Gonzi ......................................................... 2.2 Alfred Sant ................................................................1.5 Anglu Farrugia ...........................................................1.5 Others ........................................................................ 5 Don't know ..............................................................60.7 The next president should be: ............................................................... PN voters .............PL voters ....................... All A politician from the government's side .................2.3 .................... 30.7 ..................... 16.1 A politician from the opposition ......................... 39.5 ......................4.4 ..................... 16.1 Someone with no partisan affiliation......................50 .................... 56.9 ..................... 56.6 Don't know .........................................................8.2 ........................ 8 ..................... 11.2 Gender: The next President should be: A man .............................................................. 16.4 A women ..........................................................18.2 It does not matter ............................................. 65.4 How do you judge the performance of President George Abela? ............................................................... PN voters .............PL voters ....................... All Positive ........................................................... 77.9 .................... 97.8 ..................... 92.6 So-So ............................................................... 18.6 ......................1.5 .......................5.8 Negative .............................................................. 0 ........................ 0 ......................... 0 Don't Know .........................................................3.5 ...................... 0.7 .......................1.6 position leader Simon Busuttil. The overwhelming majority (57%) would like a non-partisan president. Not surprisingly, PN voters are the most likely to opt for a president hailing from the Opposition. But while 40% of PN voters would like a president from the Opposition, 50% would prefer someone with no political affiliation. PL voters are the most likely to favour a candidate from government. But while 31% of Labour voters favour a president from government's side, 57% would prefer someone with no partisan affiliations. The fact that only 1.3% could mention a name from civil society suggests that it would be difficult to find a suitable national figure who is genuinely perceived as non-partisan to fit in the role of president. Two-thirds of respondents are indifferent on whether the next president should be a man or a women while 18% would prefer a woman. Still, with the exception of Kate Gonzi, no woman was mentioned by more than 5% of respondents. So far Malta has only had one of Malta's eight presidents was a woman. A popular president The survey confirms the great popularity of President George Abela which suggests that his cross-party appeal and attempts to reach out to the people have paid off. Significantly, nobody deemed his performance as a negative one while 93% of respondents deemed his performance positively. Throughout his presidency, Abela took a high profile in charity events like l-Istrina and the President's fun run, opened more areas in Sant Anton to the public, and largely steered away from political controversy. Nationalist voters were more nuanced in their appreciation of Abela than Labour voters. While 98% of Labour voters judged Abela's performance of president positively, his approval falls to 78% among PN voters. Nineteen percent of PN voters deemed Abela's performance as so-so. But none of the PN voters considered his performance a negative one. Methodology 675 respondents were contacted by telephone after being chosen from telephone directories. 400 accepted to be interviewed. The results were weighed according to gender and age balance of general population. The survey has a margin of error of +/- 4.9.

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