'Unpretentious simply means humble' - Robert Musumeci defends gender quota comments

Robert Musumeci is standing his ground on his comments over the new gender quota mechanism, saying that being likeable and unpretentious are important attributes to reach audiences in politics. 

Again taking to Facebook to defend his stance, the government consultant said that being likeable means being close to the public and leaving one's mark on the public.

"At no point did I say that you need to be dishonest, or not intelligent, to be likeable," he said. "Unpretentious simply means someone who is humble."

Musumeci found himself in hot water after remarking on Facebook that PM Robert Abela should identify "likeable women with no pretensions" and encourage them to contest elections.

Gender Commissioner Audrey Friggieri said that his comment is an example of the “violence of patriarchal and colonial discourse that infiltrates people’s attitudes towards women and their capabilities.”

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Opposition leader Bernard Grech joined the Commissioner in condemning his comments, calling it "an offence which continues to show how, for the Labour Party, the true qualities of a person means nothing."

"If we continue to give labels to people, our society can never move forward. Labels were created for products and not for people," he said.

Nationalist MEP Roberta Metsola also called out Musumeci's comments. She said that every woman she knows has had to suffer from misogynistic comments, largely from people who feel that they knew better.

"In my experience, this is never the case," she noted.