Labour studies road map options

The Labour parliamentary group is this afternoon expected to discuss an alternative to the Nationalist Party road map on divorce, proposing a referendum irrespective of the MPs stand on the subject.

The party will be reviewing “its options” in the wake of a PN proposal, announced on Saturday, through which a referendum would only be held if Parliament approves the divorce Bill moved by Nationalist MP Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando and Labour MP Evarist Bartolo.

Speaking on a radio programme yesterday, Labour leader Joseph Muscat described the decision as a “colossal U-turn” by Prime Minister and PN leader Lawrence Gonzi given he had promised to let people decide on divorce.

PL sources said the parliamentary group would have two main proposals before it. The latest one was for the party to propose a fresh motion, as an alternative to the divorce Bill.

Technically, the motion will be about the referendum. However, it will define the parameters of the divorce law people will be asked to vote on, along the lines of the Bill presented jointly by Dr Pullicino Orlando and Mr Bartolo.

The parameters will include the often cited cooling off period to be imposed before a separated couple could file for divorce. The Bill before Parliament proposes four years.

The other main proposal is for Labour MPs who are against divorce to vote in favour of the Bill while declaring their opposition to the principle, for the purpose of allowing a referendum.

Two Labour MPs, Carmelo Abela and Marie Louise Coleiro, who are personally against divorce, have already said they did not exclude taking such a position.

The Prime Minister defended his party’s stand against criticism from both pro- and anti-divorce voices, saying the PN position was forced by parliamentary procedure. He argued against having a motion on the referendum, insisting in this way there would be no debate on divorce before such a crucial popular poll.

The PN’s formal stand attracted opposition even from MPs against divorce who, during Saturday’s parliamentary group meeting, warned there could be political fallout if a referendum is not held.

In a letter appearing on The Times today (see page 9), Dr Pullicino Orlando gives vent to this frustration at the way things have developed: “It’s not about divorce anymore. It’s about democracy,” he writes.

“There are those who are probably satisfied at the turn of events. Bullies who use threats and personal attacks to try to get their way while posing as paladins of Catholicism, and hypocrites who would have us believe that they are fighting for ‘Catholic values’ while trying to force up to 35,000 of their compatriots to effectively resort to something akin to bigamy, he says in the letter.

“I am sure that the vast majority of my colleagues will want to give them a very clear message.”