Tony Gauci, Mellieħa
The Pope on divorce (2)
In presenting his Private Member's Bill for the introduction of divorce on July 6, Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando misquoted both Mgr Charles Vella (founder of the Cana Movement) and Pope Benedict XVI.
Normally political parties represented in Parliament present and discuss new laws which are mentioned in their electoral programmes. The Leader of the Opposition is also in favour of divorce but he took care when announcing this and only said that if his party were to be elected, he would present a Private Member's Bill on divorce and give his MPs a free vote.
Dr Pullicino Orlando was elected to Parliament after accepting the Nationalist Party's manifesto as approved before the general election. He therefore has no right, under any circumstances, to present such a Private Member's Bill on an important issue that does not feature at all in the PN's electoral programme.
Surely those who voted for him were not voting for the introduction of divorce. Electors never give a blank cheque to MPs.
Wherever divorce, abortion, and euthanasia, stringent conditions were imposed at first but we have seen these regularly relaxed to the point that in some countries divorce is available at will, while abortions are practically on demand.
Since there is no mention of divorce in his party's electoral programme, Dr Pullicino Orlando should be man enough and withdraw his Bill.
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Joe Zammit
Jul 19th 2010, 21:10
In the case of divorce, a referendum is necessary. Divorce has a negative impact on me, on you and on all people. It is deceit to say that divorce is a private matter touching only some individuals.
Divorce has a great social effect and cannot be compared to other laws that parliament passes from time to time. The voice of the Maltese and Gozitans MUST be heard before parliament passes any legislation on divorce.
Besides, divorce is first and foremost a moral and religious issue. God has created humanity, God has created the institution of marriage and so ONLY God can determine the rules that govern marriage.
Christ has told us that in marriage God is uniting two together and so what God has joined together let no man, no State put asunder!
No MP can vote in favour of divorce without sinning seriously, without offending God grievously. The State has no power to dissolve marriage. In case, it would be abusing of its power.
Jack Sparrow
Jul 18th 2010, 10:10
I'm really tired of reading and explaining the fallacy of such arguments as put by this letter. The legislative body in a republic is the House of Parliament, and not the party in government. The mandate provided by a party before being elected is NOT legally binding and certainly does not cover all the laws that will be passed during the legislation. Most of the decisions taken by the House are never mentioned in any of the party's electoral manifesto, and do not require electoral mandate. Imagine having to set up a referendum for each decision made by Parliament! Instead, in a democratic country, people elect MPs to make decisions for them for a defined period of time (5 years in Malta).
Divorce is a minority law. It is not a law that will extend influence over everyone, but only to those people requiring it. EU membership required a referendum, since it affected everyone. One can argue that even the raising of VAT from 15% to 18% would have required a mandate from the electorate, since everyone was involved. But an electoral mandate for divorce? That's utterly ridiculous.