European Parliament president Roberta Metsola will not appear at any political campaign events for the Nationalist Party before the March 26 election, despite being the party’s most high-profile politician.
“This is the decision I have taken in all member states – that I would not attend election rallies,” she said in an interview with Times of Malta.
Her step back may come as a disappointment to the PN as polls indicate a decisive victory for the governing Labour party with less than three weeks to go before election day.
The Nationalist Party has a history of bringing in EU political leaders to try to bolster their campaign. In 2017, Manfred Weber, the chairperson of the European People’s Party, addressed a PN mass meeting in Sliema.
But Metsola has ruled out such an appearance.
“As you know, this Parliament and the European Union is completely overwhelmed by this work on the war in Ukraine,” she said. “And I will follow, of course, the election closely in Malta, like I do in all other member states.”
“This is the decision I have taken in all member states”
She said she would be “forever grateful” to those who had “placed their trust and responsibility in me that I am now carrying as president of the European Parliament”.
In the first part of the interview, published last week, Metsola spoke about the Ukraine war, including the importance of EU unity in the face of Russian aggression and fears that the conflict could spill into the bloc.
Turning to domestic politics, she said she believed there were three key important issues facing the electorate in Malta.
“I would think that the environment, the economy and corruption are at the very top of the concerns of the people that I talk to,” she said.
“Also, how we are going to exit from this pandemic both in terms of economic recovery, but also, importantly from a society point of view.”
Challenges for women in politics
Ahead of International Women’s Day, celebrated on March 8, Metsola, who is only the third ever female European Parliament president, also spoke about the challenges that still face women in politics.
“Being a women in politics is harder,” she said. “The bar, not only that we set ourselves but that is set for us, is higher.”
She addressed a comment she had made on Facebook when she decided against running for PN leader in 2020, saying “some ceilings need a few more cracks”.
A glass ceiling metaphor is most commonly used to describe the invisible barrier that prevents women from rising beyond a certain position. Did she feel that the PN was not ready for a female leader at the time?
“No,” she said. “I think it was a very open discussion that took place that resulted in Bernard Grech being elected leader of the Nationalist Party.
“It is a decision I stand by and we have had excellent cooperation with Bernard and all the colleagues of the parliamentary group of the Nationalist Party, and I have no doubt that the cooperation will continue in the years to come.”
Reflecting on the fact that one of her four sons will be eligible to vote in 2024, she said she hoped the situation for women in leadership roles will have changed by then.
“We have inherited a legacy from those who have smashed a lot of glass ceilings before us,” she said, acknowledging the impact of the previous two female presidents, Nicole Fontaine in 1999 and Simone Veil in 1979.
“But we need to smash still a lot more before we leave a good world for our girls and our boys. And perhaps there will come a day, hopefully, that we do not celebrate International Women’s Day one day a year, because ultimately these are things that we should work for every day of the year.”