KEVIN CUTAJAR and OLIVER SCICLUNA failed to get re-elected to parliament. Christine Amaira asks whether their disability played a part. 

There are two noticeable people missing from the list of 79 MPs making up the new parliament – two candidates with a physical disability who were MPs in the previous legislature and have failed to be re-elected. 

Three other candidates with a disability also failed to get elected in the March 26 poll.

“I believe disability did play a part in my failure to be elected. Perhaps not a major part but in my case, for instance, my physical stamina is what it is,” said former Labour MP Oliver Scicluna.

The former commissioner for the rights of disabled people said he felt he was at a disadvantage during house visits and other activities which form part of a typical Maltese electoral campaign.

Scicluna said the way people wrongfully judge persons with disabilities as weaker and less valid candidates may have been partly to blame for his failure at the polls.

Still, he said, he was satisfied with his overall result in the general election.

Other comments are just mean and you must know how to handle them- Kevin Cutajar

Kevin Cutajar, a former Nationalist MP who is visually impaired, said that, despite his disappointing result, he was satisfied that five candidates with disabilities had contested the election.

He said he hoped to see other people with disabilities entering the political scene.

Both Cutajar and Scicluna had been co-opted to parliament in the previous legislature.

Education needed 

Asked whether they thought more education was needed for the electorate to give a fairer consideration to candidates with disability, Cutajar said this was perhaps needed in all areas where disability is concerned, not just in the political field.

Scicluna, on the other hand, said education was important but it might not be enough to give more people with disability the opportunity to serve in parliament.

There was nobody better to understand people with disability than representatives who themselves have a disability.

Cutajar said he was disappointed because all he needed to get elected were just a few more votes but he had accepted “the will of the people”, knowing that he had tried his very best.

Both said it was time to consider the possibility of introducing a mechanism to help candidates with a disability get elected, similar to the system adopted to increase the number of women in parliament.

Cutajar, however, said that, rather than introducing quotas, he would prefer to see more incentives for people like him who wanted to serve in politics, such as the initiative introduced in 2013.

That initiative was intended mainly to help candidates with disability by financing an assistant during the electoral campaign.

An unheeded message?

Scicluna said that when he was co-opted to parliament in 2021, it seemed like Prime Minister Robert Abela wanted to send the message that a person with a disability can contribute well in parliament.

Whether that message was understood is another matter, said Scicluna.

Cutajar said while it was disappointing that the electorate did not elect any of the five candidates with disabilities, this should not dishearten others from coming forward and becoming politically active.

Cutajar, who during his time in parliament was bullied by someone who commented about his disability, said one must be wise enough to know what to do in such situations.

“You get many comments.

“Some are genuine and you can learn from them. Others are just mean and you must know how to handle them”.

The most hurtful comment Scicluna heard was that the prime minister had “used him”. He said he knew this to be untrue and that Abela had given him his constant support.

‘No regrets about what I said’

Scicluna said that he had no regrets about the comment he had posted on Facebook calling for a change in mentality in the way people vote in exchange for favours.

He admitted that what he had written may have ended his political career there but he had promised to be true to his values during his time in parliament.

“I did not enter politics for my own personal interest but to serve my country as best I could,” he contended.

Cutajar, on the other hand, attributed this persistent mentality of votes being used as a trading tool to Malta still being a relatively young independent nation. This, he said, does not mean that the electorate will not evolve.

Closed chapter?

Asked if the March 26 election signalled the end to their political career, Cutajar said elections are always a time of very intense emotions and one must not make hasty decisions.

He did not commit himself about his future and did not rule out a return.

Scicluna seemed to indicate that this was indeed the end of his political journey. For the time being, it seemed like his one-year stint in parliament was a one-time experience.

He did not rule out a return though... Scicluna said he did not feel he was made to be a politician and did not see himself returning to politics unless “there is a change in the system”.