Editorial
It's good to talk
There has been much talk in recent weeks about getting a discussion going on the introduction of divorce. Reality is, of course, that the debate has been going on for some time. It just hasn't taken place at a serious political level - which is the only platform capable of propelling it onto the statute books.
Politicians have increasingly been taking bigger steps in this direction of late. Joseph Muscat started talking about the subject as soon as he launched his campaign for the Labour leadership, and Social Policy Minister John Dalli said in an interview with The Sunday Times last month that he intended to propose that the government starts a national debate.
The Prime Minister followed this, saying he agreed the time was ripe for a debate, adding: "The way our society is developing makes this discussion even more important." Dr Gonzi would not commit to a position, or timeframes.
This may have prompted Dr Muscat, in comments to this newspaper today, to throw down the gauntlet and say he is prepared to present a Bill in Parliament on the introduction of divorce if Nationalist MPs are allowed a free vote. The Labour leader also takes a swipe at the Prime Minister, dubbing him "conservative" and reminding one and all that back in 1998 Dr Gonzi had said that "divorce is no solution".
It should be pointed out that there is nothing wrong with being conservative. Nor is there anything wrong, as Dr Muscat should know himself, with changing one's mind on a given subject. So he needs to tread carefully. The biggest mistake we can make with a debate on an important subject like divorce is to politicise it.
In any case, this debate is not - and people should not allow it to be - the exclusive domain of politicians. It needs to involve as wide a spectrum of society as possible. That includes the Church.
Just after he was appointed in 2006, Archbishop Paul Cremona was already clear on his stance. He told The Times in an interview: "The responsibility of the Church is to put across the Christian message into this cauldron of ideas which the Church believes is necessary for society to reflect upon. Is (divorce) inevitable or not inevitable? I don't know. But what the Church proposes is that if you believe in a stable family, you try and defend it."
A stable family has been a golden thread running through Malta's social fabric for years and every effort should be made to protect that. A discussion that can either run as a precursor to, or parallel with, the one on divorce is why are more and more families breaking up? We need to gain an understanding of this irrespective of whether Malta introduces divorce, and try to find solutions.
This is important because the term divorce is something of a misnomer in our scenario. Since couples can already go their separate ways in Malta, and since children are already allocated to one or the other, what we are talking about here is actually the issue of re-marrying.
So as well as establishing what kind of divorce may be applicable (so-called quickie divorces or ones that take place only after a couple have been estranged for a number of years?), we need to conclude the debate with a fundamental question: Will divorce benefit our society or not?
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M.Vella
Aug 3rd 2008, 20:34
I fail to understand the point that Mr DeGiovanni is trying to make in giving us Divorce statistics of Britain.
He says that Britain has 2.7 divorces per 1,000 of the population, compared with a European average of 1.8, according to Government figures in the study. So?
Does he realise that the European Countries contributing to the 1.8 average all have divorce too?
Mr DeGiovanni may want to perhaps proceed to give us statistics pertaining to all the other countries of the world, because all offer divorce options to their citizines.
He may then want to compare each with Malta's dire state perhaps he may convince the rest of the world that a society without Divorce is a better one to a Society with divorce.
A. Vella
Aug 3rd 2008, 20:00
Dear Mr. De Giorgio, with all due respect, in my books it is much more intolerant the way you portray people. This is because the way you are putting forward your argument seems to indicate that according to you Maltese people are not mature enough to have a divorce legislation in place. Even worse, according to you, Europeans in general are immature when it comes to relationships and marriages. I think it would be much better to allow people the liberty to think their minds and let them choose what is best for them, whether to marry, separate, cohabitate or re-marry.
In addition, if you research recent European statistics, you’ll find that what is most striking is the decrease in marriages. The number of people not marrying, in Europe, is rising much more rapidly than divorce rates and this is due to changes in modern lifestyles, whether we like it or not. Cohabitation and living with a separated partner are not taboos anymore, which is why it is time to protect by law people who are vulnerable, whether by choice or not.
Jason Spiteri
Aug 3rd 2008, 19:11
Sir, You comment that "divorce is something of a misnomer in our scenario...what we are talking about here is actually the issue of re-marrying" is not very correct. Re-marrying is certainly the most substantial practical issue, but there are others. For instance, among other issues is the question of third party protection: married couples sometimes use legal separation as a way of trying to circumvent creditors' claims against the community of acquests, to then bring their married status back in line in a future date through a simple 'rikors'. This is because there a fundamental difference between divorce and separation that your editorial does not fully bring out but that the law does recognise: the one brings the marriage formally to a close while the other doesn't. This is also why divorce, as opposed to separation, can have a powerful moral and symbolic significance to those pursuing it that legal separation does not.
J. DeGiovanni
Aug 3rd 2008, 18:25
Here are some statistics regarding divorce in Britain.
Britain has 2.7 divorces per 1,000 of the population, compared with a European average of 1.8, according to Government figures in the study.
The high divorce rate, combined with the growth of cohabitation and illegitimate births, resulted in Britain recording the highest proportion of children living in one-parent families.
More than a quarter of children in Britain now live in single-parent families.
The number of marriages in Britain has fallen to fewer than 300,000 a year, the lowest level since records began more than 50 years ago.
With more couples choosing to live together without marrying, the trend has been downward since 1972 when the figure peaked at 480,000.
The proportion of women under 60 cohabiting has more than doubled from 13 % in 1986 to 28 per cent, the study, Social Trends, found. For men in the same age group, the figures have increased from 12 per cent to 25 per cent.
It found that only 4 in 10 of divorced women over 65 received income support, making them the poorest group among the pensionable population.
All the information was taken from The Telegraph
Has divorce really solved the original problem?
James De Giorgio
Aug 3rd 2008, 14:24
I disagree with all those who believe the church should distance itself from the debate. I call these people intolerant.
Learn some basic principles of democracy and democratic participation. Even from NGOs and institutions have a right to speak out. If you enjoy a voice, let others enjoy it too.
Granting divorce may benefit a few extreme cases, but will leave the door wide open for people to afford not taking marriage seriously and marrying with the intention " u ijja, if it doesn't work, we'll divorce"...
.., imagine what the scenario will be next.
You could actually have a glimpse, just look at Europe. I know this first hand.
A.Vella
Aug 3rd 2008, 12:18
"...debate with a fundamental question: Will divorce benefit our society or not?" I believe that the most essential question is: Is divorce a fundamental right or not?
Take lawbreakers for instance, lawbreakers have many rights, even after found guilty; convicts are given many chances to make up for their mistakes and to be rehabilitated back into society. In my opinion, couples that end up seperated should also be given a legitimate chance to have another go in life, most especially when one is a victim and ended up separated without ever erring. The law of probabilities will always bring up a substantial percentage of mismatches. It would be very naive to think otherwise, and very cruel and irresponsible to not allow these people to have another chance under the full security of regulation.
The Maltese Catholic Church should keep its distance from this debate, it will never agree, even though it has its own divorce system in the form of annulments, which is a fallacy at best.
Finally, one should keep in mind that if the answer to my question is yes, then no matter how many people are against divorce legislation, it has to be introduced.
M Vella
Aug 3rd 2008, 11:08
Will divorce benefit our society or not?
The debate on Divorce has gone on for thousands of years and has today abated as divorce is a reality in all the countries of all the world's continents from Africa to Australia. I dare assume that this state of affairs has come about because Divorce benefits society.
Remember the argument repeated ad nauseam during the European debate? Should we stay out on all our own?
How about the MTA using the Divorce debate in Malta (that has apparently not yet started because the big ones are still debating whether to debate) as a unique selling point for people to come visit a country, nay the only country in the world, without Divorce. Who knows, it may be as effective an attraction as the Niagra.