The 10-year plan announced by the Labour Party to increase the number of women election candidates, and hopefully the number of women MPs, is commendable but the ambitious plan needs to be complemented by a change in mentality and, most of all, a change in our Parliamentary system.
It is high time that the participation of women in politics and overall decision making is increased. As Prime Minister Joseph Muscat pointed out on Thursday evening, half of our population is not duly represented in an almost all-male Parliament. There are currently only 10 women MPs out of a Parliament made up of 67 MPs. Ironically the PL has fewer women MPs in this legislature than in the last.
The PL plan, called 'Lead', which was announced by Labour MEP Miriam Dalli, aims to encourage more women to participate in politics by making them more visible and giving mentoring sessions.
As Dalli pointed out, this will not be an easy task.
The Labour Party was already speaking about gender quotas for Parliament and the concept did not go down well with some. This is understandable, for the number of men and women in Parliament should not be imposed but rather come naturally, by fixing the problems and removing the barriers that exist.
A 50% female participation rate can never be achieved with our current parliamentary system. Parliament meets three times a week, from 6pm to 9:30pm. These are not ideal working times for fathers, let alone mothers.
One of the main reasons why parliament sittings are held in the evenings is that government backbenchers and Opposition MPs have jobs outside of politics. The vast majority are lawyers but there are also doctors, dentists, architects and lecturers. MPs receive an honorarium of around €20,000, a year so one can understand why MPs would need another job.
This can only be solved by making Parliament a full-time job.
This newspaper had already expressed itself in favour of full-time MPs as a way of reducing, if not eliminating completely cases of conflict of interest. But there are also other advantages to it.
A full-time parliament would be able to hold sittings during the day, just like a normal day job. This would surely make it easier for women to choose a career in politics.
If Parliament is to have more women MPs it would also need to introduced some family friendly measures. Newly-appointed MP and parliamentary secretary Julia Farrugia Portelli this week revealed that she almost snubbed the swearing-in ceremony because she was not allowed to take her four-year-old child with her. This has shown how insensitive the current system is to modern realities. Parliament would do well to introduce childcare facilities, not only for our MPs but also for its employees.
In order for a full-time system to work, the remuneration given to MPs must be increased substantially. Many MPs come from highly-paid jobs and would surely not want to give up their income level for a measly a parliamentary allowance.
While the state can never match private sector salaries, the country could possibly opt for a smaller parliament with better paid parliamentarians. Having said this, a job in politics can never be on par with private sector jobs when it comes to salaries, but then again politics is a vocation, not a money-making career.
We believe that a full-time parliament is the only way forward in this regard. Quotas should not be imposed. The choice made by the electorate must be respected and elected male MPs should not be made to relinquish their seat just for the sake of having more women MPs. Female participation should be increased, but this should be facilitated through a radical shake up of the system and by setting the ideal conditions.