23/05/2025 Women@PACE | Standing Committee
The former President of Malta Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca was the guest of honour at a working breakfast of the Assembly’s Women@PACE group which took place in Malta ahead of a meeting of the Assembly’s Standing Committee, sharing her experience of “breaking the glass ceiling” in public life.
Ms Coleiro Preca, who was also a member of PACE from 2008 to 2013, reflected together with members of the group – a non-political, cross-party, informal platform open to all women members of the Assembly – on her successful forty-year career in politics and the rewards and challenges of blazing a path for women in this field.
As well as serving as Malta’s Head of State for five years (2014-2019), she was the very first elected female General Secretary of one of the two main political parties in Malta, and a former Minister for the Family and Social Solidarity.
Ms Coleira Preca spoke about her experiences as a young parliamentarian and political activist, raising a child at the same time as attending parliamentary sessions, carrying out constituency work and organising political meetings. The experience had changed her: “In those days I never looked at a watch. If we were in a meeting and the men could stay to midnight, I stayed to midnight too - but I also had chores at home. I felt I had to work six times as much as a man!”
Changes in Malta’s election rules to include a “gender-corrected” element had – despite some drawbacks – increased the number of women in parliament, she pointed out. More widely, she spoke about how societal change is happening, including the advent of free child-care centres in Malta, which has helped to raise the number of women in employment to approaching sixty per cent: “The right policies can open doors for other women.”
“One thing I have learned is that we really need to be there in numbers,” Ms Coleiro Preca added. “Being a woman on your own is not enough. There needs to be work-life balance so that we are not at the beck and call of the men’s timetable.”
The former President also spoke about the need to include men in discussions about equality, and the importance of starting early: “We need to invest in our education systems, and in our children – they are experts in their own right! If we empower children – girls and boys – equality will become a natural path. Boys will realise that we all have the same capacity, and we all have so much to give.”
Concluding, she spoke powerfully of the benefits of greater female representation in political life: “Women must be given more visibility, more opportunity to hear and discuss. Yes, women can argue well! They can drive change, they have so many ideas!”
Introducing Her Excellency the President Emeritus, PACE Secretary General Despina Chatzivassiliou said: “Women face unique challenges, yet we are also resilient, resourceful, and capable of overcoming obstacles in innovative and impactful ways.” As the first woman Secretary General of PACE and the inspiration for the creation of the Women@PACE group, she hailed the “amazing, driven women here, all empowering each other, and sharing within this space, with such positive energy”. She also outlined rule-changes and work to change mentalities on gender balance within PACE.
Naomi Cachia, Chairperson of the Maltese delegation to the Assembly, recalled the former President’s influence as a role-model and an inspiration for young women entering politics. Around 25 women members of PACE also shared their experiences or put questions.
The Women@PACE group is open to women members of the Assembly - from all countries and across party lines - for informal discussion and sharing of experience from women's perspectives.
