Watch: Eve Borg Bonello Answers Whether She’s Grateful To Joseph Muscat For Making It Into Parliament
Since Eve Borg Bonello’s election to Parliament, several PL supporters were quick to point out that her historic achievement was technically only possible because former Prime Minister Joseph Muscat had pushed to introduce a gender quota mechanism.
During an interview with Lovin Malta, the new MP was asked whether she feels grateful to Muscat and whether she has a message for the former Prime Minister.
Borg Bonello didn’t mince her words, giving a succinct response: “I’m not grateful to criminals”.
@lovinmaltaofficial @eveborgbonello did not mince her words 🤭👀 #fyp #fypmalta #malta #lovinmalta #eveborgbonello #josephmuscat #mp #parliament #genderquotas ♬ original sound – Lovin Malta
Borg Bonello is one of 12 woman politicians elected to Parliament via gender quota, a mechanism intended to boost the number of woman MPs but which has proven to be extremely controversial.
Criminal lawyer Franco Debono has warned that the system, adding more MPs to an already-oversized Parliament, will see the House become an “incubator of clientelism”.
Meanwhile, ADPD has criticised the system for only taking into account woman MPs who run with PL and PN and are using this fact in a constitutional case arguing the electoral system is discriminatory against third parties.
Independent candidate Arnold Cassola has opened a separate constitutional case against the gender quota system, warning it discriminates against woman candidates who don’t contest with PL or PN.
Meanwhile, Muscat has defended it, arguing that “progress doesn’t come about by itself” and even proposing that the next step should be ensuring that the role of President of the Republic alternates between a man and a woman every five years.
You can follow Lovin Malta’s full interview with Eve Borg Bonello below.
Do you think the gender quota system should remain in force?
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