Political commentator and young activist Miirko Sant has criticised Malta’s gender quota mechanism, arguing that it undermines democracy and the will of voters.In a social media post, Sant questioned how candidates with relatively low vote counts could end up entering Parliament through the corrective mechanism.“When you see candidates who, with all due respect to them, wouldn’t have even received enough votes to win a seat in the Mdina Local Council, let alone how much they’re meant to be elected into Parliament, you realise how destructive to democracy the gender quota really is,” Sant wrote.While making it clear that he was not criticising the candidates themselves, Sant said the issue lies with the system.“I say this without any disrespect: the rule is there, so it’s used and the candidates are elected, but I can’t not express my disappointment, especially when both parties voted in favour of this mechanism and no one had the guts to say they made a mistake,” he went on. “At the same time, the absolute majority of the country is definitely against this mechanism.”Sant also criticised comments by Parliamentary Secretary Rebecca Buttigieg, who has previously defended the system and said the quota is working.“I’m sure it’s working!” he said. “When a candidate gets 100 votes and she’d be lucky to get elected into the Mdina Local Council, yes, the quota is definitely working: working against the will of the voters!”Do you agree with Sant’s gender quota criticism?•