It was heartbreaking reading how Kevin Cutajar and Oliver Scicluna opened up about their time in Parliament and how their disability did play a part in their failure to get re-elected.
Since our legislators found it so easy to introduce and quickly implement the gender parity mechanism one should now seriously consider introducing and implementing a similar parliamentary reserved quota for disabled people to represent the many interests of around 35,000 people falling into this category.
Just as, by law, companies employing over 20 people must have persons with disabilities making up 2% of its workforce, so, too, Parliament should house a percentage of disabled people out of, now, those 79 MPs, come the next general elections in five years’ time.
If not on the same legal basis as the gender parity mechanism, there are alternative channels for how this can be achieved. Quotas can increase access to political decision-making processes, empowering people with disabilities to be leaders in their communities. We could, for example, have a legislated candidate quota, that is to say, a law requiring a specific number of disabled people to be candidates in an election. In order for the list of candidates to be accepted by the Electoral Commission, political parties must fill the quota. Furthermore, we could also introduce placement mandates requiring candidates with disabilities to be placed in certain spots on the party list, for example, women or candidates with disabilities might be required to be placed second on the list. A placement mandate can make it easier for candidates to be elected as it restricts parties from putting candidates at the end of the list, which may make them less likely to be elected. Since requiring candidates to be placed in a higher position may increase their chances of winning, placement mandates are sometimes called “double quotas.”
Just because someone lacks the use of his or her eyes does not mean that vision is lacking. Having multiple laws and bodies promoting the rights of the disabled while not ensuring their representation in Parliament is not enough. Our Parliament should recognise and accept this kind of people for their abilities, not their disabilities. Failing to do so will increase their disability.
In a positive sense, we can truly be a world first in this direction.
Dr Mark Said
Msida