After electing four women MEPs, Malta has gone from European laggard to being at the forefront of female political participation.

With Therese Comodini Cachia being the last to be elected in the early hours of Wednesday, women now hold two-thirds of Malta’s seats in the European Parliament.

Although three women were elected in by-elections last year to replace male MEPs – Simon Busuttil, Edward Scicluna and Louis Grech had resigned to take up their seat in the national Parliament – no woman had been elected directly on her own steam prior to Saturday’s election. This time, women candidates posted strong performances on the first count, enabling them to get elected in subsequent counts.

A closer look at how votes were transferred showed that women did not simply benefit from ‘donkey’ voting – where voters select their preferred candidate and then simply tick the boxes of candidates in alphabetical order – because the successful candidates were specifically targeted.

The success was welcomed by US Ambassador Gina Abercrombie-Winstanley who yesterday tweeted that she was “thrilled” with the strong showing of women. “Great for everyone,” she said.

In a tweet, Opposition leader Simon Busuttil too said he was “proud” that four out of six MEPs were women.

But the historic success has also raised the question as to whether women quotas – minimum thresholds of representation to ensure that a number of places are reserved for women – were a necessity.

Describing the success as “a spectacular victory for female empowerment”, timesofmalta.com blogger Ramona Depares said the result showed that the four MEPs made it not because there was a quota to fill, but because they beat their male counterparts fair and square.

“Open the door a crack for a smart woman and she will turn it into a full-blown opportunity, achieving things that some men can’t ever hope for... offer her a role just because of her gender and because a quota needs to be met and you are undermining her position,” she wrote in her blog yesterday.

But academic Carmen Sammut, whose research interests include gender and politics, does not believe the development challenges the quota argument in the wider context.

She said quotas were temporary measures to make up for circumstances that disadvantaged women: “They merely serve as a shock treatment but, in the case of the European Parliament, they are now not necessary as other circumstances have shaken the tree.”

She noted that the parties had a very solid female candidature, which was also made possible by the gender-friendly EU structures that attracted women.

I am glad that the voice of women who have been pushing for gender equality in the public sphere has not fallen on deaf ears

It has often been argued that the problem of not electing enough women MPs in the national Parliament has been the parties’ inability to attract more female candidates to contest the elections. This has been attributed to the taxing parliamentary career that is anything but family-friendly.

But Dr Sammut also attributes the shift in favour of women to the space created when former male MEPs exited European politics last year.

“This development permitted the significant shift to happen and, over the past year, the women who replaced the male incumbents earned their constituents’ trust when they all made excellent contributions in the EP,” she said.

Two of the incumbents – Roberta Metsola for the Nationalist Party and Marlene Mizzi for the Labour Party – were re-elected, this time for a full five-year term.

This meant that women did not need a quota system to open the way for them to be elected in the European Parliament, according to Dr Sammut. However, the result may also be an indication that voters were ready to redress the gender imbalance that existed in political life, she added.

“I am glad that the voice of women who have been pushing for gender equality in the public sphere has not fallen on deaf ears and I hope this huge step will impinge positively on party structures and the national Parliament,” Dr Sammut said.

The representation of women in the national Parliament remains a hard nut to crack. Although a record 10 women MPs were elected in last year’s general election, most made it to Parliament through a by-election or as a result of the extra seats awarded to the parties to ensure strict proportionality with votes obtained.

But as the dust settles on the MEP election result, the hope for people like Dr Sammut is to see greater female representation lead to further advancement for women in society.

Now that the gates have been opened, the question is whether they will remain so in the years to come.

Vital stats

1: Women candidates fielded by Imperium Europa.
3: Women candidates fielded by the PN.
4: Women candidates fielded by the PL.
4: Women elected MEPs.
35: The percentage of total votes obtained by women on first count.
32,360: Votes obtained by Roberta Metsola, who was best performer.
87,678: Number of first-count votes obtained by women.

ksansone@timesofmalta.com