Increasing women MPs: accelerating history

Parliament would have ended up with 79 seats after the 2017 general election if the gender corrective mechanism being proposed now was applied.

Deborah Schembri and Paula Mifsud Bonnici would have been the first of 12 women candidates to hypothetically be elected to parliament in the quest to boost the number of female MPs.

Schembri, who contested on the Labour ticket in the 12th District, was left standing at the last count with 3,417 votes. Mifsud Bonnici contested with the Nationalist Party on the 1st District and was left standing at the last count with 2,749 votes.

The gender corrective mechanism being debated in parliament is intended to boost the number of MPs of the under-represented sex by a maximum of 12.

Women only made up 15% of elected MPs in the 2017 election, falling far below the 40% threshold set by the proposed mechanism. The PL elected four women, while the PN had six female MPs. The ratio of women MPs was double that registered in the 1950 election.

Women only made up 15% of elected MPs in the 2017 general election, which is only double the ratio registered in the 1950 election

This means that six unelected women candidates on either side of the political divide in 2017 would have had to be selected to become MPs to restore some parity.

At the first stage, all unelected women candidates left standing at the last count would make it to parliament. In 2017, this would have applied to Schembri and Mifsud Bonnici only.

This part of the mechanism is similar to the one already in place that awards extra seats to the parties so that their parliamentary representation is proportional to their first count vote tally. PN MPs Carm Mifsud Bonnici and Frederick Azzopardi were elected in this way because the party was awarded two additional seats.

However, Schembri’s and Mifsud Bonnici’s hypothetical election would still leave either party with five more seats to fill with women candidates.

Rank order

In this case, the mechanism proposes the creation of a rank order of all women candidates for either side. In this case, the top five women candidates on each party’s ranking will be elected.

The law as proposed by government is ambiguous because it states that the rank order should be based on either the votes obtained by women candidates at the last count before they were eliminated, or a calculation of their last count vote as a percentage of the district quota.

PN MP Hermann Schiavone said the rank order for unelected women candidates should be clear and based on the votes at the last count expressed as a percentage of the respective district quota

The Opposition is suggesting a clearer approach when it proposes a ranking based on the quota percentage.

If this part of the mechanism was applied in the 2017 election, the PL would have seen Davina Sammut Hili, Nikita Zammit Alamango, Rachel Tua, Rita Sammut and Marion Mizzi become MPs.

Fleur Vella would have been the only Labour female candidate not to make it to parliament.

The PN would have seen Graziella Attard Previ, Graziella Galea, Alessia Psaila Zammit, Roselyn Borg Knight and Amanda Abela elected MPs.

The PN had a much longer list of women candidates than the PL in the last general election.

A look at the numbers shows that Attard Previ had a vote tally of 1,883 before being eliminated – equivalent to 48% of the 10th district quota – putting her top of the PN list, followed by Graziella Galea with 1,257 votes – 32% of the 12th District quota.

On the other hand, Labour’s top-of-the-list candidate was Sammut Hili with 431 votes before being eliminated – equivalent to 11% of the 1st District quota. She was followed by Zammit Alamango, who had 396 votes at the last count or 10% of the 9th District quota.

The poorest showing would have been Marion Mizzi for Labour, who would have been elected on the strength of her final tally of 95 votes that is equivalent to 2% of the 10th District quota.

Gender corrective mechanism applied to 2017 general election

Original Election Outcome

Note: The final outcome includes the 2 extra seats awarded to the PN to ensure proportionality between votes and seats. The number of women MPs includes those elected in casual elections to fill in seats vacated by MPs elected on two districts.

Gender corrective mechanism kicks in

Gender threshold of at least 40% is not reached after casual elections. Women are the under-represented sex. 12 extra seats have to be awarded to women candidates, six to each party in parliament

Step 1: Unelected women candidates left standing at last count with votes to their name are declared elected by Electoral Commission – 2 elected

Deborah Schembri (PL) and Paula Mifsud Bonnici (PN)

PL: Deborah Schembri – 12th District – 3,417 votes

PN: Paula Mifsud Bonnici – 1st District – 2,749 votes

Step 2: Eliminated women candidates of parties in parliament are ranked according to last count votes or last count votes as a percentage of district quota – 10 elected

PL candidates: top-ranked

(Left to right) PL candidates Davina Sammut Hili, Nikita Zammit Alamango, Rachel Tua, Rita Sammut and Marion Mizzi

1. Davina Sammut Hili – 1st District – 431 votes – 11% of quota

2. Nikita Zammit Alamango – 9th District – 396 votes – 10% of quota

3. Rachel Tua – 11th District – 209 votes – 5% of quota

4. Rita Sammut – 4th District – 150 votes – 4% of quota

5. Marion Mizzi – 10th District – 95 votes – 2% of quota

Note: Zammit Alamango and Tua contested on two districts so their best-scoring district is being considered

PN candidates: top-ranked

(Left to right) PN candidates Graziella Attard Previ, Graziella Galea, Alessia Psaila Zammit, Roselyn Borg Knight and Amanda Abela

1. Graziella Attard Previ – 10th District – 1,883 votes – 48% of quota

2. Graziella Galea – 12th District – 1,257 votes – 32% of quota

3. Alessia Psaila Zammit – 6th District – 804 votes – 21% of quota

4. Roselyn Borg Knight – 10th District – 805 votes – 21% of quota

5. Amanda Abela – 3rd District – 777 votes – 20% of quota

Note: Attard Previ, Galea, Borg Knight and Abela contested on two districts and their best-scoring district is being considered

Final Election Outcome