The Democratic Party said on Tuesday that it is against the introduction of gender quotas in Parliament, as it will set the progress women have made backwards, rather than promote their success.

"This form of positive discrimination is unjust, will further demean women, and is fundamentally undemocratic," it said in a statement.

The government has unveiled plans for quotas to raise the number of women in parliament. The idea is reportedly to increase the number of seats in the House, reserving them for women.

Women are not tuna and should not be the subject of quotas. It is degrading to women to introduce quotas, as if they cannot succeed on their merits- Marlene Farrugia

"We have said it before and we will say it again. Women are not tuna and should not be the subject of quotas. It is degrading to women to introduce quotas, as if they cannot succeed on their merits,"MP Marlene Farrugia said.

She said the PD believed in equality between men and women, which meant that it opposed wasteful gender quotas in parliament, which though a form of positive discrimination, were a form of discrimination nonetheless.

“If a government really wanted to fix things it would start by addressing the gender pay gap which is in real life the gender ‘pain’ gap, being so rife and blatant and a major weapon used to blast any possible chance for effective emancipation of women,” she said.