Women in Maltese politics, 1945-1958

Abstract

Some argue that modernity is measured by the position that women hold in society. In recent years the role of women in Maltese society has been given much importance especially during the last general election. This fact has inspired me to choose as my dissertation the participation of women in Maltese politics. Both political parties especially the Labour Party has proposed initiatives for more women participation in the workforce as a measure that would bring about economic growth. Interestingly enough it was the Labour Party which was the prime mover for female emancipation. The aim of the study is to provide firstly the process of female suffrage in Malta which represents the first step towards female emancipation and secondly the participation of the first women who participated in Maltese politics into one collective work. In the first chapter a detailed background is given on the history of female suffrage and its major debates. The democratization of the franchise in Malta was gradual extending in 1883 from 2,400 to 10,637 male voters and in 1921 suffrage tripled to almost 30,000. In 1947 universal suffrage was stipulated in the Mac Michael Constitution. In relation to other countries in Europe especially those Mediterranean, Malta is not far in introducing the right of women to vote. A table of European countries together with the dates of the introduction of female suffrage will be given before the fist chapter. The issues that will be discussed in the first chapter are the influence that Mary Wollstonecraft and Bentham have left in the movement for female emancipation, an overview of the history of female suffrage movements, democracy and the principle of inclusiveness, universal suffrage and nationalism and the connection between Gender and the working class. The second chapter starts with the aftermath of the Second World War II. This beginning is crucial to this study since it presents a period of change. Amongst the changes that occurred was the change in the role of women in society. During the war, women filled the vacancies which had been occupied by men, thus women became useful even outside their homes. Perceptions of how women were portrayed are also given thanks to various articles which were published during this time. The mid-1940s was a period dominated by rights. Among such rights, female suffrage was introduced together with the right of women to contest elections. The major actors behind these rights were: The Labour Party, the General Workers Union and the Women of Malta Association. One could not exclude mention of the two members representing the latter association: Mrs Josephine De Bono and Helen Buhagiar. In the last part of this chapter I will tackle the role of the church particularly how it saw the role of women in society. In addition importance was also given to the National Assembly with special reference to the discussions held concerning female admission and later female suffrage. The third chapter takes off with the first election that took place in 1947 and its turnout. Since it was the first time that women voted speculations were raised on how they used their new right. This is followed by a discussion concerning the strategy of the Labour Party and the Nationalist Party when it came to promoting their female candidates. Reference is made to the first women who contested the first elections, namely Ms Agatha Barbara and Ms Helen Buhagiar and their first talks during mass meetings. The chapter concludes with an overview of the political situation from 1947 and 1955 together with a brief introduction of the following chapters which concern female candidates. In the last three chapters I will be discussing the four women who were elected during the period under review. These were Mrs Attard Bezzina, Mrs Cecilia de Trafford Strickland, Ms Mabel Strickland and Ms Agatha Barbara. The chapters concerning these women start, with a section about their childhood and their character. This is followed by their main contribution in public life. Most of the information is a product of newspapers and parliament debates. However before discussing Mrs Attard Bezzina and Mrs de Trafford in the beginning of the third chapter a comparison is given between Ms Agatha and Ms Mabel. Although the first two women mentioned did not leave as much influence as the other two in Maltese society they are also important because, being both married, they have proved that married life and public life were not mutually exclusive. Moving to Ms Mabel, the chapter gives an overview to her social background, her work experiences and most importantly her opinions on different issues. Together with the Malta Labour Party and the Nationalist Party, Ms Strickland proposed her own opinion of what the future of Malta should look like. She was conservative promoting herself as the most competent person with connections that could strengthen the relations between the British and the Maltese. An interesting fact concerning Mabel is that she was the only woman who became a leader of a political party. The last chapter concerns Ms Barbara, who is another important personality and who dominated the political scene over more than forty years. The fact that she came from a working class background was a natural decision to join the Labour Party. Central to her political career was social reform particularly in the educational system.