Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1085429
2 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 24 FEBRUARY 2019 YANNICK PACE PLANS to introduce gender quotas to bump female repre- sentation in parliament up to 40% could result in a number of MPs too large to fit into the present parliament building. Last month, MaltaToday reported that the current ad- ministration was planning to introduce a bold new measure to increase the numbers of any an under-represented sex to 40%. Sources told MaltaToday that the measure being con- sidered would only work in in- stances where two parties are elected to parliament, with government yet to decide how to elect the necessary number of women from party lists. Labour had pledged to hold a consultation on raising the number of women MPs in its 2017 election manifesto. "They will likely look at women candidates with the highest number of votes after the last elected MP on each district, and then select the ones with the highest number of votes," the source said. "That, in itself, already puts the onus on each political par- ty to field a considerable num- ber of women so that, once the quota system is triggered, there will be a good selection of women." If one were to apply the measure to the present parlia- ment – consisting of 57 men and 10 women – 28 additional MPs would be required, re- sulting in a parliament with 95 MPs. MaltaToday reached out to the Speaker of the House – that was granted an autono- mous status during the last legislature – but was informed that the Speaker could not comment given that he was not part of the present discus- sions. Asked whether such a large number of MPs could be ac- commodated, the Clerk of the House said the chamber could accommodate 77 MPs, "including two benches which do not actually have seats, and which are intended for use by persons using a wheelchair". If one entertains the possi- bility of parliament growing beyond 77 MPs, and taking the 2017 election as an exam- ple, each of the two parties would have been required to add 14 women from their re- spective party lists. In that election, there were seven unelected Labour MPs, while on the Forza Nazzjonali side, 21 women were unelect- ed – three Democratic Party candidates and 18 Nationalist Party candidates. This means that Labour would have been unable to increase its numbers to 14. It is unclear, in the eventual- ity that such a measure is put in place, what would happen if one party does not have enough women on its party list to reach the 40% quota. Quotas may not even be needed Back in July of 2017, the La- bour Party announced that it would be launching a scheme through which it would equip female candidates with the necessary skills required to succeed in politics. LEAD, which is being spear- headed by Labour MEP Miri- am Dalli, aims to see Labour increasing the number of fe- male candidates to 35% by the next election and 50% by 2027. Statistics on Maltese general election results since 1947, available on the University of Malta website, show that de- spite women being severely under-represented in parlia- ment they have tended to do just as well as males when they do actually run. Over that period, an average of 28.9% of female candidates were elected, compared to 26% of men. If one were to take the pe- riod between 1996 and 2017, the success rate falls to 22.7% for women, while men fare slightly better at 26.80%. If both parties succeed at meeting Labour's target of 35% female representation among its candidates, and assuming both sexes fare as well as they have over the past ten years, the proportion of elected women would be 37% of the total, and just 3% shy of the government's 40% target, rendering any quota system redundant. ypace@mediatoday.com.mt Gender quota of 40% could mean MP complement too big for parliament building The Chamber in the new Parliament can accommodate 77 MPs NEWS