Often I think I miss the point because I’m daft or because I might have missed out on some lecture or article written by one of our island’s bigwigs. A President has been chosen unanimously. When the Prime Minister announced his choice of President he actually spoke of her gender.

What has that got to do with anything? If you refer to it then it must be uppermost in your mind and it’s useless adding a disclaimer, as our Prime Minister did, that she was not chosen because she is a woman but because she is capable and deserved the post.

Let’s go back in time—just a few days ago.. The biggest story was the reshuffle and Dr. Konrad Mizzi was chosen as a new super-minister. Now pause: did Dr Muscat ever say to us that he was chosen not because he is a man but because he is deserving of his post? If I were a woman, I’d feel terribly insulted by these damning and demeaning words. I seem to recall our Prime Minister saying his administration would be the most feminist of administrations. Again I lack enough brain cells to fully comprehend this statement but surely this was insulting to all those chosen females who all presumably merited the appointment on their own steam.

Capability is not gender-specific. If we really want to move on let’s just choose whoever is right for the job and not care, or talk about, whether they are white, green, technicolour or if they are of the female species.