After the 1987 general election victory, the Nationalist government embarked on a new economic path. Market liberalisation was one of its main aims. The other was privatisation. But ‘privatisation’ was at the time a toxic word. The General Workers’ Union, still very militant post-1987, would not compromise, so finance minister George Bonello Du Puis came up with the concept of ‘popularisation’. I could never comprehend then what was different. Actually, there was a difference… in the way one sells a new concept.
Fast forward to today and, once again, we are substituting the word ‘quota’ with ‘corrective mechanism’. Let us not mince words. What we debated this week in parliament is the introduction of gender quotas, albeit using another word.
The concept of quotas has raised considerable controversy in many countries because they have been seen as bypassing the competitive process and the merit principle and, so, can become a form of discrimination against men. There are various debates on this topic but they mainly revolve around the principle of equality.
According to prominent academics there are two types of equalities: equality of opportunity and equality of results. The first one can be satisfied by way of supporting women through training, funding and forms of ‘caring’ leave. The second form of equality can be fulfilled by affirmative action that guarantees an increased representation of women by means of a quota.
Our electoral system does not discriminate against women. Yes, there are alternative electoral systems that facilitate more the election of women in legislatures but, still, our system does not hinder women from getting elected.
As part of my doctorate degree 10 years ago, I conducted research about the performance of women in 16 Maltese elections. I wanted to establish why women were not being elected in larger numbers.
The overwhelming evidence pointed to factors other than the electoral system and the political parties.
Socio-economic and cultural factors are to blame for the current state of affairs. Women are simply choosing to stay away from the political realm and opting for other career paths. There is a number of reasons for this but the main one is the current state of politics.
This led me to fully endorse the introduction of a quota for female representation and that is why I will be wholeheartedly supporting the current bill. But the bill as presented lacks important details and, on behalf of the opposition, I have proposed a number of amendments.
Women are simply choosing to stay away from the political realm and opting for other career paths- Hermann Schiavone
The Nationalist Party strongly believes women benefiting from this bill should also be made available to a newly-elected prime minister to be considered for a cabinet post. We, therefore, suggest that the casual elections, usually held three weeks after an election, will be conducted immediately after the election result is announced. This would ensure the full complement of MPs will be known before a cabinet is sworn in.
The second amendment is intended to scrap the government’s idea that the mechanism is invoked only in a two-party parliament. We are proposing that, in the event of a third party electing a minimum of five seats, the mechanism would still be invoked.
It is not clear how the ranking of women will be established and we are therefore suggesting a mathematical formula ranking the minority gender candidates according to the percentage of votes obtained in their last count.
Finally, we are proposing an amendment to ensure the bill be entrenched and that any future amendments would require a two-thirds parliamentary majority.
As Bernard Grech clearly explained in his speech on Tuesday, the introduction of this bill is not enough to attract more women to contest elections. The political class is in competition with industry to attract competent people to join. Before moving forward to the next stage in parliament we need to discuss how we can complement this bill with other reforms, such as having a family-friendly parliament and improving the conditions within which MPs operate.
The leader of the opposition invited the government to start a dialogue between the parties in the House so that we come up with the best bill possible and ensure the reforms will leave the expected results.
The PN is in favour of this reform but the bill is not enough. Let us have the courage to implement holistic reform in which we truly attract talented women to take the leap into politics.
Our parliament will benefit. Our parties will benefit. But, above all, our beloved country will benefit greatly.
Hermann Schiavone is a Nationalist MP and political analyst.