Editorial • 18 May 2003

Guilty of being woman

This country may have enacted legislation to ensure women are afforded equal treatment and not discriminated against, but it’s going to take much more to change prevalent cultural attitudes.

This week the Archbishop opened the lid on what seems to be the genetic make-up of a conservative Christian society.

Aloof from the troubles of parenting and daily family life the Archbishop lambasted working women. For him, women should not go out to work because they would be abandoning their children.

But the Archbishop is not a lone horse. Many more people think in the same way and the attitude is not prevalent among men alone.

It is unfair on women that decide to take a paid job to have to contend with society-induced guilt ridden feelings each time they leave the family home to go to work.

The very idea that in 2003 anyone should doubt whether adults ought to have jobs outside the home is anachronistic to the kind of society we aspire to.

The Archbishop’s statement epitomises the extremely patriarchal streak that has run throughout the Catholic Church’s history.

In Malta more women than men study at university and it would be a shame for the country to lose their valid contribution.

The focus should not be motherhood but parenthood. Somehow this notion of shared responsibility of parents for what goes on in the home has not rubbed off on the Archbishop.

Neither has it rubbed off on the organisers of Malta’s Sexy Man and Woman competition. Shamelessly, among the prizes the male winner will get a weekend break at a five star hotel while the female winner will get a collection of brooms, floor clothes and mops.

With a pensions problem looming on the horizon what this country needs is better child-care facilities and family-friendly policies to attract more women to the work force. Guilt trips will get us nowhere.

Sant clique’s gain – Malta’s loss

Alfred Sant’s election will me remembered more for the 32 percent of the vote that did not go to the Labour leader than the votes Sant won.

The challenge to his leadership was a historic first in Malta and its implications cannot be fully understood at the moment. The 68 percent vote garnered by Sant are to be better understood as result of those in Sant’s clan working to retain their jobs and positions within the party, than a vote for a leader that promises a bright future.

It must be remembered that Sant, who has enjoyed the same popularity, fanned by the pro-party media, of all political leaders in Malta won against two relative minnows within the party.

Drs Montalto and Farrugia never really stood a chance against Sant, but in many ways it was their victory. If Sant only managed 68 percent this time it is not easy to imagine that set against Evarist Bartolo and George Abela for example, Sant would have been an also-ran.

That there is a desire for change of party leader is clearly evidenced by the good showing of Montalto and Farrugia, two candidates that for a variety of reasons were never going to win.

Following the announcement of the result it was immediately clear that Labour already has two camps. The faces of the delegates told the whole story. Sant’s boys, many of them relying on Alfred Sant’s position for their living, were ecstatic. Not so the rest, many of whom left the MLP headquarters swearing under their breath. Sant’s boys may have a penchant for life in opposition, but soon they will find that coming under fire from their own side is not so enjoyable.

Malta too stands to lose. The PN in government is not exactly the epitome of good governance and the level of its failure will become clearer in the coming weeks when we can expect news of government incompetence to hit the media.

Malta needs a Labour Party that can be a real challenge to the PN, and no matter what Sant does in the coming years he will find it difficult to convince the floating voter. A new face is always a new start and that is what Labour and Malta need.