Any form of civil arrangement for same-sex couples must not be confused with the notion of a family based on marriage between a man and a woman, according to Labour MP Carmelo Abela.
Addressing a gathering of people who support the anti-divorce movement, Mr Abela emphasised the traditional meaning of marriage and the family.
“We are hearing of people who claim it is a civil right, within inverted commas, I would say, for same-sex couples to get married. Without denying them some form of legal arrangement, marriage is reserved for a union between a man and a woman,” he said.
The debate organised by the Marriage Without Divorce movement brought together four MPs – Mr Abela and Labour MP Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca and Nationalist MPs Jason Azzopardi and Charlo Bonnici – who are against divorce.
Mr Abela said the divorce debate provided an opportunity to assess how families could be helped, insisting strong marriages contributed to a sound social order.
His position was reflected by Dr Azzopardi, who said the divorce debate was a wake-up call to reflect on where the family institution was today and where it should be heading.
“This is a defining moment, one where we are called to stand up and be counted,” Dr Azzopardi said, adding his opposition to divorce was grounded in his religious beliefs and on social considerations.
He said Malta had the advantage of learning from the mistakes of other countries. “Divorce has led to higher marital breakdowns in other countries... and while we have to be sensitive to the hurt caused by marriage breakdown the medicine being proposed is not the right one,” Dr Azzopardi said.
He said divorce led to an imposition of a new family on the children of broken marriages. Similar sentiments were expressed by Ms Coleiro Preca, who said she was against divorce and uncomfortable to legislate on the matter without having a popular mandate.
“The divorce issue should go to the people before coming to Parliament. They have to give us a mandate because the people also have to shoulder the responsibility of deciding according to their conscience,” she said, agreeing with Mr Abela.
Reflecting on Malta’s almost unique stand of being one of only two countries in the world not to have divorce, Ms Coleiro Preca said she was proud to be different.
“I am a Labourite and against divorce. There are a lot of voices in favour of divorce in my party but there is also gentlemanly behaviour and I feel comfortable coming here today expressing my views,” she said, adding Labour leader Joseph Muscat allowed MPs the liberty to express their views.
She raised concern about the economic implications of divorce, while calling for a sensitive approach to the debate. “I have spoken to children of broken marriages and they are less bothered about cohabitation because they believe it is a temporary arrangement. But they are against divorce,” Ms Coleiro Preca said, adding divorce was not the solution it was being made out to be.
She also called for a parliamentary committee on family matters and proper studies to be conducted on the state of the family.
Mr Bonnici agreed with Ms Coleiro Preca that he was elected to Parliament also on the basis of his values and beliefs.
Divorce can hurt more people than it can help, Mr Bonnici said, grounding his opposition to divorce on the social consequences to the common good.
“It is already hard on children to accept their parents’ separation let alone the impact if their parents form new families,” he said.
Calling for studies on the Maltese situation, Mr Bonnici quoted statistics and studies in other countries showing how divorce did not solve the problem of marriage breakdown. “A country with broken marriages is not a strong country and all politicians should commit themselves to strengthen the family,” he said.
He said both sides of the debate believed in marriage but there was a basic difference because those in favour of divorce did not believe in the concept that marriage was for life.
All four MPs agreed divorce introduced what they described as a divorce mentality that devalued marriage and called for greater education for children and families.
During question time, some supporters of the anti-divorce movement raised the issue that children older than 16 should be allowed to vote in a referendum because divorce also affected them.
Among others, the crowd included the chairman of government’s IT agency Claudio Grech, former Central Bank governor Francis Vassallo, top architect Alex Torpiano, former PN president Victor Scerri and PN MEP candidate Alex Perici Calascione.