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The Rise Of Kevin Cutajar: Malta’s Newest MP Who Didn’t Let Blindness Get In The Way Of Success

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The rise of Kevin Cutajar to the Maltese Parliament is nothing short of remarkable and inspirational. Born in Xagħra in 1978, Cutajar was dealt a cruel blow by life when he was only 13 and lost the ability to see.

While an impairment like this at such a delicate age could crush anyone’s spirit, Cutajar didn’t give up and decided to view his disability as a challenge to overcome.

“Thirteen was a delicate age. The lobby for the disabled was still being born and very few services were available,” Cutajar said in a 2007 interview with The Times of Malta.

He saw a ray of light when an IT company developed a programme that could read electronic texts, a tool which not only allowed him to study properly but also to access the internet and connect with other people going through his experience.

Cutajar read for a university degree in Italian and German before entering law school and pursuing a career as a corporate lawyer, where he was employed by some of Malta’s largest law firms.

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Kevin Cutajar with former Prime Minister Eddie Fenech Adami

He also got active in civil society, founding the Gozo Aid for the Visually Impaired, the Gozo Federation for Persons With Disability and the Malta Guide Dogs Foundation. He was also a member of the National Youth Council and Vice-President of the Malta Federation of Organisations of Persons with Disability.

And despite the cards being stacked against him, he refused to let his dream of entering politics die. Cutajar successfully contested the local council election of his hometown Xagħra in 2007, a position he occupies till this day. He also unsuccessfully contested the 2013 and 2017 general elections and the 2014 European Parliament elections on the Nationalist Party ticket.

In the interviews he’s given and the articles he’s penned, Cutajar has been very frank about his impairment, showing no qualms in referring to it as ‘blindness’.

In a Malta Independent article ahead of the 2014 European Parliament elections, Cutajar spoke of his experience as a blind person in politics.

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Kevin Cutajar with former PN leader Simon Busuttil

“Let us be frank with each other. After announcing my candidature for the European Parliament election of next May, I’m pretty sure that at some point or another, some have had questions, if not doubts, about my ability to take up the challenge,” he wrote.

“People know that I’m a blind person and some seem to think that blindness is an insurmountable obstacle that should stop any involvement in politics. This is definitely not the case and I decided to write this article in order to demonstrate it.”

“First and foremost, people should keep in mind that the only significant difference between a blind candidate and other candidates is blindness. This might seem obvious, but it is not.”

“In fact, a blind candidate has the needs that all other candidates have. As a result, a blind candidate requires a team of helpers and needs to be in many places at the same time, to keep himself informed, to meet people and also to appear in the media and deliver his message. The level of co-ordination of all these factors is of course crucial for the candidates’ result.”

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Kevin Cutajar with PN MP Therese Comodini Cachia

“Naturally, the fact that a candidate is blind will require him to put more emphasis on the organisation issue. The more the blind candidate is organised throughout his campaign, the more his blindness will be compensated for and consequently, the better the possibility that his result will be a good one.”

Ahead of his co-option to Parliament, several PN officials placed a lot of emphasis on Cutajar’s blindness, with outgoing president Mark Anthony Sammut stating it would make strategic sense for the party to make history by appointing the first MP with a disability.

On Xarabank last night, former PN councillor Wayne Hewitt urged Opposition leader Adrian Delia to co-opt Cutajar, describing him as “an excellent person with a disability”.

Delia’s response was both snappy and powerful.

“I don’t think Kevin Cutajar has a disability. I think he has great abilities and we must discover how to use them to improve Parliament.”

And now, after today’s development, the brave Gozitan will indeed get the chance to prove himself on Malta’s highest political stage.

READ NEXT: Gozitan Voters File Judicial Protest To Stop Jean Pierre Debono’s Co-Option

Tim is interested in the rapid evolution of human society and is passionate about justice, human rights and cutting-edge political debates. You can follow him on Instagram or Twitter/X at @timdiacono or reach out to him at [email protected]

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