Divorce is 'civil right' - Labour leader

l. apap

Sep 15th 2008, 13:43

Finally one leading politician has apparently stood up to be counted on this sensitive issue. The question now is, will the PM rise up to the challenge and allow the matter to be given a free vote in Parliament, thus finally giving those those long-waiting and patient seperated couples a chance at a new life as promised in the PN electoral manifesto of 1998 and 2008? Or will the PM and the PN continue to bow to the diktat of the Curia? Only time will tell.

@ m.farrugia - we have waited for 10 years for the PN to keep its promises. You can bet your bottom euro that we shall be thinking of this issue when I go to vote next time round.

@joseph farrugia - Divorce is just a red herring? It will be if people like you continue to ignore the facts that 1 in 3 children are living with a single parent and the rising numbers of cohabiting couples who are existing without any legal rights and are subject to daily discrimination by the State.

@ mary pace - Helloooooo! multiple families and mixed families already exist - what's divorce got to do with it?

Kenneth Cassar

Sep 15th 2008, 07:39

@ Joseph Cauchi: Sure, any problem that's not your problem can be pushed to a later date.

@ Mary Pace: You will stop saying that rights are fictitious when someone tramples on yours.

K. Pullicino

Sep 14th 2008, 20:37

Sorry, but citing religion is not helping in convincing me to support divorce. I can see a big gaping flaw in Muscat's argument where he says that "in a lay society one should have the right to practise one's chosen religion without imposing one's values on others". What if one's religion asks for things which are clearly illegal?

Also, here in Malta, we have the fortune of seeing how divorce affects other countries. Regardless of whether it's written in the Deceleration of Human Rights, the Bible or whatever book you might follow, divorce clearly doesn't seem to be the best solution for our society.

Noel Cutajar

Sep 14th 2008, 20:08

@M Farrugia and Mary Pace - Divorce as Ms Pace is a civil right but not enjoyed by the Maltese. The Church is bound by its teachings on marriage especially on the notion of indissolubility of marriage. It does not mean that the Church does not give a second chance because the Church Tribunal has the power to annul marriages contracted within the church. Believe it or not, marriage is a contract and each party has a right to dissolve the contract albeit with consequences. It is not true that divorce will produce or amplify any existent problems...look around you and with all the notion of stable marriages we have a large recorded percentage of children with unknown father...so where is the crux? and yes we live in a world of human rights and everybody wants more rights as values change and society demands new rights...tell this to the next generation that we live in a world without any rights and expect them to call leaders dictators!! Divorce will only be sought by those having personal problems...so why fear divorce? Those who have stable marriages should not be bothered by it at all!! Let divorce be another civil right!!

Adrian Cardona

Sep 14th 2008, 19:44

@ m farrugia
"Neither do I think that when one is faced with a general election, he will vote on the basis of whether the party in govt. will introduce divorce or not"
Think so?.... do you think someone who has been suffering for years would give a toss about who is making a mess of the country for the next five years?

Anton Portelli

Sep 14th 2008, 19:00

Divorce is absolutely a civil right of any Maltese citizen whether he married in church or not. Today I will not even dream that I will marry in church after the way I was treated by the church authorities who only preach love, understanding and toleration but in practice the church acts totally different.

TIME FOR DEBATE IS NOW UP IT IS TIME TO ACT AND GIVE THIS RIGHT, THAT IS ENJOYED BY ALL CITIZENS IN THE WORLD EXCEPT MALTA AND THE PHILIPPINES, TO mALTESE CITIZENS ESPECIALLY NOW THAT WE ARE ALSO EUROPEAN CITIZENS AND SHOULD THEREFORE ENJOY EQUAL RIGHTS.

Pio Grima

Sep 14th 2008, 18:17

As a Nationalist supporter for over 25 years I have never felt so in sync with the opinions voiced by Joseph Muscat......strange but true.

m farrugia

Sep 14th 2008, 16:21

Personally I cannot understand all this obsession and euphoria about divorce. The only problem of not having divorce as I see it, is that couples that marry outside the Catholic Church should have a right to divorce and the Catholic Church cannot impose its rules on outsiders. Otherwise, all those who choose to marry within Catholic Church should abide by its rules, they made the choice, unless they made the choice ghall ghajnejn in-nies biex hadd ma jghid bihom. So I do not think that the introduction of divorce will solve a lot of the problems the country is facing at the moment. Neither do I think that when one is faced with a general election, he will vote on the basis of whether the party in govt. will introduce divorce or not. Voters will choose the party they think is most capable of fighting the challenges that the country and the whole world is facing and propelling the country forward in terms of education, creation of jobs, balancing of working mothers' work family lives and standard of living. Regarding these issues, we have barely heard a word from Joseph.

Mary Pace

Sep 14th 2008, 15:32

Divorce is a civil right. Yes but one must also bear in mind that divorce will encourage multiple and mixed families. It will certainly not contain the social problems we are having to live with. Contrarily it will amplify an already dire situation.

Everybody seems to want more rights nowadays. Abortion is also a fundamental right which women may wish to excersise if they decide to terminate their pregnancy. Homo-sexuals also have a right to parade publicly and demonstrate their sexuality. Transexuals also claim rights and complain about being harassed. The Nation also a right to protest about the rampant illegal immigration issue while our politicians and MEP's hide their head in the sand.

The Fundamental rights of Mr. Lowell who cried about against the Immigration issue were trampled when he was given a two-year suspended sentence because through excersising his right of freedom of speech, was condemend for instigating hatred.

Rights are ficticous. We are living in a manipulated and supressed democracy where we are told what to say and where the Media is in control of people's minds. We are a nation of sheep who follow our leaders blindly and who lack basic national pride.

Joseph Cauchi

Sep 14th 2008, 12:15

NO RED HERRINGS PLEASE ! ! !

What Malta really needs right now is not the issue of "Divorce" but the real issue of "Illegal Immigration" !

Malta does not need any red herrings to distract us from the real issue!

The political class should concentrate on what is hurting Malta right now and not on issues that are very delicate and complicated. This issue of "Divorce" can be tackled at a later date.

All the politicians, including the opposition should come out with ideas and solutions to solve this continuous invasion of illegal immigrants who are crossing from Libya, without any documents of identification.

All these illegal immigrants are harming our country, both culturally and otherwise.

What about our a) The Social Fabric, b) The Tourism Industry, c) The Foreign Property Buyers, and d) a host of other problems (!) - ?

We have to prioritise our options and not be dumb-stricken on other more serious and urgent options.

So, let's us all tell our politicians that the real problem right now is the:

PRIORITIZATION OF THE ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS !

Dr. John Zammit

Sep 14th 2008, 11:04

The Association for Men's Rights, John Zammit, Emmy Bezzina and others since the 1980's have been saying that divorce is a civil right. I even distributed petitions to all members of the European Parliament in Brussels personally. I do not know why we are taking so long to have that right. - Dr. John Zammit, President, Association for Men's Rights Malta