Gender representation in parliament: start with political parties, young leaders urge

The Network of Young Women Leaders (NYWL) has urged political parties to aim for gender parity in their list of candidates for the upcoming general election.

“Gender balance should be reached by pushing an equal amount of candidates across all districts. This could lead to more women being elected by the public, thus fair representation in decision-making positions can have a ripple effect and lead to more equality across the board,” the NYWL said.

Prime Minister Joseph Muscat last week floated a proposal to introduce a gender quota for MPs. NYWL argued that, pushing for quotas within a political party as opposed to parliament, “could offer a more long-term solution that should be considered”.

The network argued that it was the parties’ responsibilities to seek and present competent male and female candidates whose primary interest lies in the country and its citizens.

On 10 March 2013, 69 candidates were elected to parliament, 10 of whom were women (14.5%).

Collectively, the total number of candidates fielded by the Labour Party, the Nationalist Party and Alternattiva Demokratika amounted to 269. But only 40 were women (15%).

This indicates that there is no preference for or against a candidate based on gender but it means that the low rate of women in parliament is due to the parties’ failure in recruiting female candidates.

Collectively, the highest number of female candidates (24%) during the 2013 elections was in District 12 whilst none of the parties managed to field a single female candidate in District 7.

With the election of PN MPs Kristy Debono and Marthese Portelli, District 9 was the only district in Malta to elect two female candidates. In Gozo, the parties’ only female candidates – Justyne Caruana (PL) and Giovanna Debono (then PN) – were both elected to parliament. The two ran against 10 other candidates.

NYWL said it was unacceptable that no female candidate was pushed to contest District 7: “We are confident that competent female candidates could have been found if gender equality was truly prioritised.”

NYWL added that their analysis showed that at least one women is elected from most districts.

NYWL referred to Article 23 of the EU Charter of Fundamental Human Rights, which states that “equality between women and men must be ensured in all areas”.

“It is the duty of those seeking to govern the country to safeguard this human right,” the network said.

NYWL also urged parliament to consider going full-time and to introduce child-minding and caring facilities which would better fit the needs of fathers and mothers with young children.

On a broader level, the network reiterated many organisations’ calls for access to parental leave for men and to encourage more men to engage in household and child-bearing responsibilities.

NYWL pointed that to encourage the contribution of women in society, leaders must challenge economic gender inequalities such as gender pay gap and the lack of economic independence which may hind some women from running for office.