Nationalist MP Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando had hinted to his former wife, a Labour MP, that he was working on a divorce Bill.

"Jeffrey gave me a hint some time ago that he was preparing something but I had no idea when he was going to present the Bill and what it contained," Marlene Pullicino said yesterday.

"I had told him that if he had to do something he should go ahead and to keep in mind that the family unit should be protected," Dr Pullicino said, insisting it was important for the divorce debate to be made in Parliament.

The separated couple are in the odd position of sitting on opposite sides of the House and, while the Nationalist MP is in favour of divorce, his wife has publicly adopted a more conservative stance.

"I am not competent at this stage to say how I will vote on this Bill because I want to hear what experts have to say first," Dr Pullicino said yesterday in what appears to be a more mellow stand compared to her definite "no" in 2008.

Interviewed in Pink magazine two years ago, Dr Pullicino had said she did not think she would "ever be able to vote in favour of divorce".