Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1514782
maltatoday | SUNDAY • 21 JANUARY 2024 7 INTERVIEW The following are excerpts from the interview. The full interview can be found on maltatoday.com.mt as well as our Facebook and Spotify pages. You are the first female Whip in Malta's parliament. In a country where female representation in politics is still a struggle, do you feel your appointment is a significant step? I am honoured to be the first woman to be doing this job in the history of Malta's parliament and it is a signifi- cant development that we should not underestimate in the context of the debate that has been going on over these past few years to encourage more women to participate in politics. We know what the obstacles are and how we worked to increase the num- ber of female MPs in the last election… now is the time to start seeing the re- sult of that exercise and my appoint- ment as government Whip is one such development that may not have been possible had we not had the numbers in parliament. Later on, I would like to see more contributions by women in parliament, something we have start- ed to see at committee level. These are positive developments but if we were to look at the tangible results, this moment is significant. Do you feel the political en- vironment is still too male dominated? Yes, it is and it will remain so until we have more women who choose to join public life. With more women in parliament, even the style of do- ing politics will change… the role of Whip is often associated with some- one who can intimidate others and for sure that is not a characteristic any- one can attribute to me. The manner by which we do politics and look at things will change but it takes time… government opted for shock therapy [by introducing the gender corrective mechanism for elections] but I think it is still too early to see the results of this change. Government had published a Bill that sought to change Malta's strict anti-abortion law by proposing to allow pregnancy termination if a woman's life and health are in danger. Yet, the final law approved by parlia- ment, following changes proposed by the govern- ment to its own Bill, left pro-choice activists disap- pointed because the health aspect was given secondary importance. Do you under- stand the disappointment of pro-choice activists? If I were to speak, not as a parliamen- tarian but as a Maltese woman who has lived all her life in Malta, the point of departure was a situation where no one used to talk about abortion… the steps we witnessed over the past months and years, including the fact that abortion was discussed at legislative level, were significant… I understand there were people who wanted us to go further; but there were also many others who believed we went too far and we should not have legislated on the matter. I re- spectfully do not agree with the latter because we had situations that had to be addressed. If anything, legislative changes came too late for some… Is it time for abortion to be introduced? The momentum for a mature discus- sion on the subject that has built up over the past months should not be lost… my wish is to continue discuss- ing this subject for as long as it takes in a mature way; whether we man- age to do so depends on the manner by which the political parties and MPs tackle the subject… there are a lot of things that we have to discuss because it hurts me to see the State abandon women at a sensitive mo- ment when they order abortion pills online and self-administer… abortion is a reality people may not want to ac- knowledge but as legislators we have the responsibility to continue speak- ing on subjects that are uncomforta- ble and sensitive. Do you believe that the Prime Minister's recent reach-out to MPs who were implicated in wrongdoing of sorts such as Justyne Caruana and Rosianne Cutajar is sending out the wrong message? It is as if he is saying, 'if you do wrong, you'll get your small punishment but don't worry we will find a way to fix things'. The Prime Minister asked a very le- gitimate question, which should prompt a wider discussion. When someone has paid a price for their actions, should the individual keep shouldering the burden for the rest of their life? If they did a mistake and re- signed, should that end their political career forever? It obviously depends on what the mistake was but it is a pertinent question. This does not im- ply putting aside political responsibil- ity that has historically always taken a back seat. It is important that we are conscious of the fact that as MPs our political and private lives are under scrutiny and there is a price to pay for this but the question the Prime Minis- ter asked is valid and everyone should think about it. But these individuals' mistakes were big, so much so they attracted the Prime Minister's ire when they happened. Shouldn't they continue to shoulder the price for their mistakes? Why should they be rein- stated in positions where they performed their mis- takes? If you make a mistake that warrants the end of your political career, I have no problem with this reasoning; I be- lieve it is the right thing to do. But we cannot put everyone in the same bas- ket either. PHOTOS: JAMES BIANCHI / MALTA TODAY