Cassola calls gender corrective mechanism 'the biggest travesty of democracy'

Independent candidate Arnold Cassola called the gender corrective mechanism undemocratic and said it was only beneftting PL and PN at the expense of third parties.

In a statement on Tuesday, soon after the gender mechanism elected 12 new women in Parliament, Cassola said, “this is the biggest travesty of democracy [...] Is the will of the electors being respected? Is this right? Is this democracy?"

Cassola argued that ADPD candidate Sandra Gauci got more votes than PL candidate Davina Sammut Hili, however the mechanism benefitted Sammut Hili and elected her to Parliament.

He also criticised the move by PN's Janice Chetcuti to drop out of the casual election race on the 3rd District, relying on the mechanism to be elected, making way for a male colleague. Carm Mifsud Bonnici was elected on Tuesday, filling up the seat vacated by Stephen Spiteri on the district.

"Janice Chetcuti, makes a whole mockery of the supposed corrective mechanism and plays about with the system in order to ensure that her PN male colleague gets elected... at the expense of a woman," Cassola said.

He said the mechanisms introduced only benefitted PL and PN at the expense of third party candidates.

"The crux of the issue is that it is not true that the law is giving women representation in parliament according to the will of the voters. This is the state of democracy in Malta. Shameful," Cassola concluded.

READ MORE: The Constitutional Court ordered the continuation of a case in which Cassola challenged the gender quota mechanism