Women far from being on top in European Parliament elections

The all-male line up elected to the European Parliament has been received with disappointment by both a woman's organisation and the head of the European Parliament office in Malta.

"Although it is the prerogative of the electorate to choose its MEPs, I am somewhat disappointed that, once again, the Maltese chose to be represented by five men," Julian Vassallo, who heads the local EP office, said.

He felt that the lack of a female representative conveyed an image of an island that did not reflect the reality of women, who were successful in other walks of life.

The same feeling was voiced by the Malta Confederation of Women's Organisations, which said it was a pity that Malta was the only EU state not to manage "to ensure a more balanced representation of its electorate".

Although initially it seemed that at least one woman would be elected, the hopes for both Labour candidate Marlene Mizzi and Nationalist candidate Roberta Metsola Tedesco Triccas faded quickly on Tuesday. Eight females contested Saturday's MEP elections.

The confederation said the fact that no woman was elected was not due to the candidates' lack of qualifications and capabilities but showed how "invisible barriers still hamper women's access to the political sphere". It said the electorate often reflected and acted on traditional gender stereotypes by choosing men who had, until now, been the main incumbents in the world of politics. On the other hand, the confederation lauded the political parties for making an extra effort to ensure a more balanced ballot sheet.

But it added that, in order to be successful, women had to be given support and visibility by the party that had a lot of say on who got elected.

"This shows that much still needs to be done by the political parties to ensure that the women candidates they field actually have the same chances as men of being elected," it said, adding that women could make a difference by changing agendas and raising awareness on issues that mattered to all.

"Women make up more than half of the Maltese population and the political agenda should always include the perspectives, views and experiences of those who will be affected by it. The absence of Maltese women is therefore our loss."

Both Dr Metsola Tedesco Triccas and Ms Mizzi commented that people tended to vote for candidates in alphabetical order. Dr Metsola Tedesco Triccas called the situation an "alphabet democracy" and Ms Mizzi said that one should not run for politics unless their surname started with the letters A, B or C.

Asked about this, Dr Vassallo said the fact that candidates were listed in alphabetic order had an impact on the outcome. He said the island should look at innovative ways to level the playing field when it came to surnames as part of an overhaul of the counting mechanism. Although it was the smallest EU member state, counting in Malta took longest.

According to a general audit report by the European Women's Lobby published last month, Malta had the fourth lowest percentage of female candidates among the 27 EU member states. Austria had the highest percentage of female candidates, almost half of those contesting.