25 new women participants in the the Labour Party's LEAD programme were presented on Saturday during a press conference led by Minister for Environment Energy and Enterprise Miriam Dalli, who has been responsible for such programmes since their launch some years ago.

In its 6th edition, LEAD is a programme aimed to increase the PL's female candidates to 50% by the 2027 General Election.

Dalli said that the Labour Party believes wholly in the participation of women in the counctry's political life.

She said that although this is the sixth year for the programme, this is the seventh group to benefit from this training as “there was so much enthusiasm in the first year that we had to split them into two groups”.

Amongst participants there are homemakers, students and others with financial and economical backgrounds with ages varying between 16 and over 50.

Until now the programme has seen the participation of more than 150 women, who in some way wanted to contribute with their ideas.

Labour Party’s CEO Randolph Debattista, said that for participants to be accepted in the programme, apart from a normal application they had to also submit a reform and initiative idea.

He said that this programme is allowing the possibility for many women to voice their opinion and showcase their ideas, something which in the past they might not have had the opportunity to do.