Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1463655
12 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 3 APRIL 2022 NEWS Thank you... for having bought this newspaper The good news is that we're not raising the price of our newspaper We know times are still hard, but we have pledged to keep giving our readers quality news they deserve, without making you pay more for it. So thank you, for making it your MaltaToday Support your favourite newspaper with a special offer on online PDF subscriptions. Visit bit.ly/2X9csmr or scan the QR code Subscriptions can be done online on agendabookshop.com Same-day delivery at €1 for orders up to 5 newspapers per address. Subscribe from €1.15 a week Same-day print delivery from Miller Distributors mt LAURA CALLEJA JUST four women were elected during the 2022 general election – a disappointing result consid- ering the push for more female representation in parliament had been a major talking point over the last five years. While parliament will end up with at least 20 women due to the casual elections and the im- plementation of the gender cor- rective mechanism, which take place next week, questions have surfaced as to why the result was, in fact worse than 2017, which had seen eight women MPs elected. Analysing the 2022 results, University of Malta pro-rector Prof. Carmen Sammut – who was part of the team that draft- ed the gender quotas law – said that she had expected the re- sults as a number of established women on both sides did not run. Notably, prominent faces from both the Labour and PN did not run in the 2022 general elections, such as Helena Dal- li, Therese Comodini Cachia, Kristy Debono, Marthese Portelli, Marlene Farrugia and Justyne Caruana, all of which were elected on their own steam back in 2017. Prof. Sammut said this could have been a contributing factor to the poor showing of women candidates as many of these es- tablished figures who the elec- torate had voted for were not on the ballot. "However not all is lost. as casual elections should see more women elected to parlia- ment as well as the gender cor- rective mechanism. "After looking at the women who have already been elected, we begin to look at the percent- age of quota they have earned in each district and make a list. Those with the highest percent- age of the quota will be eligible to take a seat in parliament. "The mere fact that there will be enough women to participate in parliamentary committees is already great progress for me. Before you would have situa- tions such as the parliamentary health committee where they would be discussing issues such as IVF, the morning after and other things, and there would be not a single woman at the ta- ble," she explained. Recently-elected minister Mir- iam Dalli said that while, at first glance, it would appear very few women made it through straight away, the casual elections must take place before a comparison with the 2017 elections can tru- ly be made. "A deeper analysis shows that the women who contested on the PL ticket obtained almost 20,000 first-count votes, which compares very well with the 14,000 first preferences ob- tained by women PL candidates Did gender quotas election punish women candidates? Just four women were elected during the 2022 general election but a deeper analysis also shows that women contesting on the Labour ticket obtained almost 20,000 f irst-count votes, which compares very well with the 14,000 f irst preferences obtained in 2017 "I don't want to stand here and say I told you so... But what I feared would happen has come to fruition. We needed a national campaign to tell people to vote for women and explain the mechanism properly" Claudette Buttigieg