Last Saturday, the Moviment Nisa Partit Nazzjonalista and the co-host anchors of the NET TV discussion programme Iswed fuq l-Abjad Dr Joe Giglio and Dr Alessia Psaila Zammit joined forces and organised a seminar themed “Female Participation in Politics”.   It was a frank and open discussion which brought into focus why female participation in politics is low but, more importantly, how this could be improved. In a nutshell, the seminar’s conclusions can be encapsulated as: small progress achieved, yet many challenges remain.    

The PN should continue to research this issue from different perspectives and viewpoints, with the hope that the issue remains as close as possible to the national agenda.   In a small society like ours, we cannot afford to discard people on the basis of their gender.   Unfortunately, politics has morphed into a dirty word, more of a mudslinging undertaking aimed at undermining real or perceived opponents.  This has to come to an end.  Political parties should resolve to stamp out this nonsense, with the hope that the best brains are attracted to the political arena.  

Dr Simon Busuttil brought the seminar to an end with an eloquent speech which hinged on the importance of taking tangible actions to ensure that female participation increases at all levels, not least in politics.  He emphasised that, since he became leader of the PN, various changes were made which have attracted more females to the structures of the Party.   He pledged that the PN will continue to push forward a political commitment which should see more female participation in the shaping of Malta’s future.

The issue of increased female participation has been taken up by many international organisations, including the ILO.   A recently published report indicates that women own and manage over 30 per cent of all businesses, but tend to be concentrated in micro and small enterprises.  Women sit on 19 per cent of board seats globally, and only five per cent or less of the CEOs of the world’s largest corporations are women.

Men are beginning to take on more care responsibilities, but women continue to shoulder most of the responsibility for family care, often limiting their access to paid employment, or confining them to part-time employment.  In the EU, women spend an average of 26 hours per week on care and household activities, compared with nine hours for men.

The gender pay gap persists.  In general, women earn on average 77 per cent of what men earn, with the absolute gap widening for higher-earning women.  The ILO has noted that without targeted action, at the current rate, pay equity between women and men will not be achieved before 2086, or at least 70 years from now.

Against this backdrop, and before the niceties and the introductory speeches, the producers of the programme presented a recorded message by President of Malta Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca.

One may have a different political opinion from the one for which she has worked tirelessly for many years before she became President, but that is beside the point for the case I want to put forward here.  To her credit, and her credit alone, she is a fine example of what with determination and hard work one can achieve. Prior to her becoming President, I had the opportunity to exchange views with her on various occasions. She always came across as a politician ready to listen attentively, never afraid to speak her mind and stands no nonsense or bureaucracy in her pursuit to be of genuine service to fellow country-men.  She has managed to find ways around barriers that often hold women back.  Fortunately, she is not the only one. Other women have forged ahead for a more equitable, if as yet unequal, society.     

But while this seminar was taking place in Malta, in the UK Prime Minister, David Cameron welcomed the recommendation from the chief of the general staff, Sir Nick Carter, that the ban on women serving in ground close combat roles be lifted from this year.  The announcement will see women being allowed to serve in frontline combat roles for the first time.

Incidentally, Theresa May, Home Secretary, and Andrea Leadsom, Energy Minister, are in the final round of the contest to succeed David Cameron as Conservative Party leader and Prime Minister after he failed the UK and the EU with an electoral populist promise.     

I am all for equality, but I am the first to admit that some things females do a lot better than males.  And vice-versa.  There has to be a sensible limit.  In my view allowing for females to serve on the frontline combat is hardly an achievement, rather, all efforts should be made to bring those on the front-line home.  But running for the vacant post of prime minister is.

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