Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/809226
20 maltatoday, SUNDAY, 9 APRIL 2017 Opinion T he question of whether gender quotas should be introduced in Parliament has recently been the object of substantial public discussion. The weight thrown behind this issue by the Prime Minister and the Minister for Civil Liberties has been dampened by the remarkable lack of enthusiasm on the part of those who would stand to benefit the most from this measure. Although I am in favour of greater female participation in politics, I would like to question some of the assumptions being made by the proponents of gender quotas. The advocates of gender quotas argue that the percentage of representatives in Parliament who are also women is too low. Presumably by this they mean that the percentage of representatives who are also women is not proportional to the percentage of women present in society. In order to remedy this situation of 'gender inequality', they are proposing to allocate more seats in Parliament for representatives who also happen to be women. The precise manner of achieving this has not been made clear so far, but let us assume that a sensible way of implementing this measure can be found. They claim that such a system would make Parliament more 'representative' of society at large. It seems to me the 'representation' sought by gender quotas is of a different nature than the 'representation' found in a representative democracy, and that it is a mistake to equate the two. In a representative democracy, voters elect a candidate to represent them in parliament. This candidate is a person who enjoys their trust, and who they regard as capable of representing their ideas and interests in parliament. Men and women are both entitled to vote, and candidates of either gender can be found on the ballot. Voters are free to choose the candidate who they feel will best represent them. Now suppose that gender quotas are introduced, and that a number of women candidates who were not able to win a seat in a competitive election under their own steam are given a seat in Parliament. Who would these women candidates represent, seeing that the electorate has clearly preferred to repose its trust in other candidates? It seems to me that the only possible answer out of this riddle is that these extra women candidates are supposed to represent the class of women in general. But women voters have clearly made their own choice in the election and these candidates do not enjoy their trust. In fact this 'representation' which is promoted by gender quotas is at odds with representative Democracy itself. Whilst our Parliament is a representative institution, introducing gender quotas would create a mixed institution which is only part representative, seeing that certain people will be trusted with legislative power on account of a completely superficial characteristic such as their sex, and not on the grounds that they represent electors. Without wishing to claim that the following is subscribed by all proponents of gender quotas, there is often a pervasive and toxic assumption that only women candidates are able to represent women voters. A complex choice which involves a large variety of factors is reduced to whether the voter and the candidate share the same sex. Whilst this position is untenable I would not underestimate its capacity to lead people astray on this question. I conclude by expressing my disappointment at the readiness which has been shown to put the representative functions of Parliament in jeopardy just to be able to give additional 'exposure' to women candidates. The banality of this kind of reasoning shows that this matter has not been thought through properly. The right measures have to be chosen in order to increase the participation of women in politics and I seriously doubt that this is a suitable one. Ingram Bondin is a member of Front Against Censorship D uring my concluding speech at the Employment and Social Affairs Informal meeting for EU Ministers for Employment, Social Affairs and Consumer Policy earlier this week, I had the opportunity to stress our knowledge and skills deficits and mismatches that remain a painful reality across the European Union. These meetings, in which 46 Heads of Delegation and Ministers participated are organised in the country holding the Presidency and allow for open discussions, exchanges and policy debates. A total of 118 delegates participated. Being the only minister responsible for both education and employment in the EU, I know how hard we need to work to get the world of education and the world of employment to step into each other and work together. High-quality work- based learning must become an integral part of education. Skills have to go beyond technical competence and must include social skills, f lexibility, adaptability and the ability to continue learning. Rather than prepare people for specific jobs we need to prepare them for employability as we do not even know what kind of new jobs we are going to have in the years ahead. We must work together with employers, unions and civil society, as without them we would be hard pressed to have a more economically competitive, adaptive and sustainable social Europe, which is essential to encourage the dissemination, exchange and transferability of good practices across Member States. Thanks to these social partners, we can boost the quality of education and training systems before young people actually go into the labour market. By highlighting the themes of inclusive labour markets, inequalities, knowledge and skills, during this informal meeting of ministers for employment and social affairs, Malta ascertains that it is at the forefront of such an initiative. We acknowledge the interdependence of educational, economic, labour market and social inclusion policies and foster greater economic and social justice. We also need to develop the skills and talents of those already in employment if we want them to remain in employment – re-skilling and up-skilling are crucial to tackle the skills obsolescence in a dynamic world. We also need a skills strategy for those who have lost their jobs as their skills have expired. When economies die, whole communities go into decline and people lose hope and trust. Then it becomes difficult to revive them. All workers in low-skilled jobs and women in particular are at risk of being replaced by automation. This makes it even more important to work hard to retain them to prevent waste of talent and new forms of gender inequality. Lifelong education has become crucial for keeping citizens employable and making Countries investment friendly. Lifelong education should be considered a strategic investment as much as investment in physical infrastructure. Lifelong education is the shared task of governments, employers, trade unions and civil society. Promoting economic growth and job creation remain a priority in the EU, while ensuring that even new forms of employment enjoy the safeguarding of rights and dignity of workers. In order for Europe to maintain regional and global economic relevance, all member states need to be able to actively interpret, engage with and shape the current and long- term economic and social needs. It was stressed during the debate that investing in skills and talents, not only is it the way forward but it is also essential for the European Union's own viability and adaptability to deal with its current and future challenges. It is also our moral obligation to invest in the skills and talents of our citizens for their own wellbeing and prosperity to prevent poverty, exclusion and distrust in democracy's ability to deliver a decent life for citizens. In line with the main theme of the Maltese Presidency in the field of employment and social policy – Making Work Pay – we should all work together to empower our labour forces with the right skills for employability and to combat inequalities. Evarist Bartolo is minister for education and employment A gender quota muddle Need for lifelong skills strategy Ingram Bondin Evarist Bartolo There is often a pervasive and toxic assumption that only women candidates are able to represent women voters