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8 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 7 JUNE 2026 ANALYSIS Women secure record election gains WOMEN elected on their own steam in the 2026 general elec- tion, secured 10 parliamentary seats with three of them having benefited from the gender mech- anism four years ago. The results suggest the mech- anism has partially achieved its aim of helping more women en- ter politics and win seats on their own steam. Among those making that case is Labour MP and Parliamentary Secretary Alicia Bugeja Said, who entered parliament through the mechanism in 2022, but won a district seat in her own right this year. Speaking to MaltaToday, Buge- ja Said argued that the system has encouraged more women to con- test elections and helped increase female participation in political decision-making. Ten women won 12 of the 67 parliamentary seats allocated during the initial count, more than doubling the result record- ed at the same stage of the 2022 election. More could be elected in the coming weeks when casual elections take place. In 2022, only four women were elected before casual elections and the gender corrective mech- anism came into effect, marking a 20-year low for female rep- resentation. The gender corrective mech- anism is triggered when the un- der-represented sex makes up less than 40% of all seats in parlia- ment after the election outcome is known. However, the mecha- nism only applies when two par- ties are elected to parliament. This year's result also saw women achieve breakthroughs that were absent in the previous election. Labour MP and Envi- ronment Minister Miriam Dalli became the only woman to top the poll in her district, a result that was absent from the 2022 election. The election also marked a milestone for three women who entered parliament through the gender corrective mechanism in 2022. Eve Borg Bonello, Alicia Bugeja Said and Paula Mifsud Bonnici all won district seats in 2026 without relying on the mechanism. Their victories reinforce ar- guments that the mechanism helped accelerate their parlia- mentary careers by providing an earlier opportunity to establish themselves politically. At the same time, the increase in female representation has also coincided with a steady rise in the number of women contesting elections. Women candidates account- ed for 29.2% of all candidates in 2026, up from 24.6% in 2022. This is a substantial improve- ment when you take into account it was just 11.1% in 2008. However, former MEP Mar- lene Mizzi criticised the gender mechanism when reflecting on the election result. She said it was "uncalled for and unfair on the electorate." She argued that it un- dermined women's competence. In contrast, academic Carmen Sammut, who had captained the reform argued in a post on so- cial media that the mechanism helped increase representation, and encouraged parties to field more female candidates. "Let us remember that women's elec- toral success does not happen in a vacuum: Advancements and failures cannot be linked to the mechanism alone." Bugeja Said told this paper that women's participation in political decision-making is es- sential. "The role of women in decision-making roles is impor- tant and the government is no exception," she said, noting that her experience working in the male-dominated fisheries and agriculture sectors helped her overcome barriers, including those imposed by gender. Bugeja Said argued that the gender corrective mechanism had encouraged more women to enter politics, saying she was satisfied that 40% of Labour's candidates were women. She al- so highlighted that the number of women elected on first-count votes had more than doubled compared to 2022. "I feel that people do not hes- itate to vote for female candi- dates, yet the gender corrective mechanism is contributing to added female participation in the elections," she said. While acknowledging that some MPs may feel stigmatised for entering parliament through the quota, Bugeja Said added that representatives should focus on their work and results. "Ulti- mately the difference you leave in people's lives is not marked by the manner a member of parlia- ment is elected," she said. LAURA CALLEJA lcalleja@mediatoday.com.mt ELECTION 2026 Alicia Bugeja Said is one of three female MPs to be elected on their own steam in the 2026 election and who only made it to parliament through the gender corrective mechanism four years ago (Photo: James Bianchi/MaltaToday) Alex Borg's vote inheritance explained ALEX Borg left a substantial in- heritance of votes in Gozo, 4.1% of which went to candidates of other parties, including 226 votes to La- bour candidates. However, this was not an ex- ceptional case. A similar occur- rence happened on the 12 District where 4.7% of Borg's surplus votes were inherited by other parties. But while in Gozo the main beneficiaries from the PB leader's surplus were Labour candidates, on the 12 District the main ben- eficiary was ADPD Chairperson Sandra Gauci and other third par- ty candidates. Borg's Gozo inheritance Alex Borg was elected from Gozo with 12,211 votes. He ob- tained 7,563 more votes than the district quota. When the surplus was distribut- ed, the vast majority (95.9%) went to other PN candidates. Beppe Galea inherited 2,748 votes, Frank Anthony Tabone 2,712 and Nor- ma Camilleri 1,149. Luke Said in- herited 629 votes. Significantly, 4.1% of Borg's sur- plus was transferred to candidates of other parties. Of these, 226 votes went directly to PL candidates. Jo Etienne Ab- ela inherited 110 votes from the PN leader, while Anton Refalo re- ceived 100 votes. Clint Camilleri was not in a po- sition to inherit votes from Borg since he was also elected on the first count. A further 85 votes from Borg's surplus were inher- ited by candidates standing for third parties. These cross-party transfers and non-transferable votes may have played a role in the end re- sult, which saw the PL obtain a one-seat majority despite the PN obtaining more votes. But vote transfers in Gozo were not one sided. Clint Camilleri was also elected on the first count and had a sur- plus of 1,372 votes. When these were distributed, 36 votes shifted to PN candidates and six votes went to other party candidates. These transfers amounted to 3.1% of Camilleri's surplus. Moreover, when PL candidate Abigail Camilleri was eliminated, 31 (4.1%) of her 753 votes were in- herited by PN candidates. Similarly, when PN candidate Luke Said was eliminated, 40 (3.9%) of his final 1,021 votes were inherited by Labour candidate Jo Etienne Abela. Borg's 12 District inheritance A similar trend is observable on the 12 District, where 4.7% of Alex Borg's 6,125-vote surplus was transferred to candidates of other parties. Significantly, while 109 votes (1.8%) were inherited by PL can- didates, 179 (2.9%) shifted to can- didates from the smaller parties. The latter included 117 votes inherited by ADPD Chairperson Sandra Gauci, who alone inherit- ed nearly 2% of Alex Borg's sur- plus. This boost enabled Gauci to sur- vive longer in the race, being elim- inated on the 16 count, by which time her vote tally had surged from an initial 513 votes to 950. This suggests that Borg man- aged to appeal to voters outside his party's core constituency, in- cluding a chunk of voters who are sympathetic to third parties. Less cross-voting by Abela's voters Robert Abela shed fewer votes from his tally than Alex Borg did to other parties when his surplus was distributed. In fact, only 21 votes from Ab- ela's 7,861-vote surplus in the 2 District were inherited by third-party candidates, while 18 were inherited by PN candidates. Together, these represented just 0.5% of Abela's surplus votes. This means that over 99% of Abela's votes were transferred to candidates within his own party. In the 5 District, only 51 votes (0.9%) of Abela's 5,858-vote sur- plus were inherited by candidates of other parties. These included 26 votes inherited by third party candidates and 25 inherited by PN candidates. JAMES DEBONO jdebono@mediatoday.com.mt Between 4% and 5% of Alex Borg's surplus votes in Gozo and the 12 District were inherited by non-PN candidates (Photo: Daniel Tihn/MaltaToday)