Labour leader Joseph Muscat is unlikely to accept the Prime Minister’s proposal to put a more generic question in the divorce referendum, The Times has learned.
Although Dr Muscat has not yet replied to a letter by Lawrence Gonzi in which the request was made, party sources said the opposition was not likely to backtrack on the detailed question proposed in a motion that has the backing of Labour’s 34 MPs and Nationalist MP Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando. This equates to a majority in Parliament.
Officially, the Labour Party was tight-lipped on the matter yesterday as it bided time to answer the letter that was delivered at 8 p.m. on Thursday.
“The Leader of the Opposition is reflecting on the points put forward by the Prime Minister in his letter and will be replying accordingly,” a spokesman for Dr Muscat said when asked whether the proposed changes would be accepted.
As proposed by Labour, the question will ask people whether they agree with the key elements of the divorce Bill before Parliament, including making divorce available only to couples who would have been separated or living apart for four years.
Dr Pullicino Orlando yesterday stood by what he said on Thursday after a meeting with Dr Gonzi, insisting he would not back a referendum question that simply asked people whether they agreed with divorce, as wanted by the Prime Minister. Such an option, he said, would give legislators a blank cheque to introduce a Las Vegas-style divorce law.
The divorce debate took a different twist this week as the government and the opposition grappled over the PL’s motion, which also proposes holding a referendum before a parliamentary debate on the Bill.
After the House Business Committee failed to reach an agreement on when to hold a debate on the motion, the PL on Thursday formally asked it be put on Parliament’s agenda for Tuesday.
Speaking during a visit to the Cospicua home for the elderly, Dr Gonzi blamed Dr Muscat for undermining a parliamentary debate on the Bill by insisting the referendum be held before.
Dr Gonzi said that, unlike the road map proposed by the Nationalist Party – first a parliamentary debate and then a referendum if Parliament approves the Bill – people would not have definite parameters to vote on under Labour’s proposal because the Bill could subsequently change in Parliament.
Dr Gonzi expressed hope the Opposition Leader would accept his invitation to meet and discuss the procedure to be followed.