Equality Minister Helena Dalli has requested the Speaker of the House of Representatives to discuss the action that needs to be taken after the Education Commissioner within the Ombudsman’s office wrote an article which, in her opinion, is discriminatory against women.

The letter was written to the Speaker in view of the fact that although the Ombudsman is autonomous from the government, he is a parliamentary official. The government therefore felt the need to raise the issue with the Speaker.

Last week, Charles Caruana Carabez, the commissioner in question, wrote an article in The Times which women’s organisations found offensive.

In her letter, Dalli said that the government’s policy is unequivocally in favour of equality and rejects any time of stereotyping or discrimination. Dalli said people occupying public posts should set an example in this regard, but the article in question includes language that goes against the government’s policy.

Letter to Speaker

In a seperate statement, Speaker Anglu Farrugia said that he had passed on the letter to the Ombudsman, as was the practice in similar circumstances.