Labour leader Joseph Muscat this morning made a last appeal for a 'yes' vote in the divorce referendum on Saturday.
Speaking in a One Radio phone-in, Dr Muscat said the PL was letting its supporters vote according to their own conscience.
He would vote 'yes' and believed the people should vote 'yes' because this was a matter of principle and of choice.
The Saturday vote was not in favour or against the Church or some political party, but a vote over whether those who were suffering because of a marriage break-up should be given a fresh chance in life. It was a vote to put children born out of wedlock on an equal footing with other children, rather than being considered as 'second class'
In view of the current situation, he was being clear and was not hiding himself on this issue, like the prime minister was doing, Dr Muscat said.
The road to modernity was a tough one, and a the 'yes' camp had an uphill task, he said.
However, his appeal to the undecided was not to ignore the referendum simply because it did not interest them personally. They should vote 'yes' in solidarity with those who were suffering.
He said that no one wanted to see families breaking up. The Saturday vote was not about breaking families, but about giving people a chance to remarry, and about all children being considered equal.
This vote, he said, was a vote against hypocrisy. Malta already was seeing two family break-ups every day and it was only the rich who could get divorce, by going abroad.
This situation needed to be remedied. No alternative to stop family break-ups was being offered. Divorce, at least, would give a new chance for remarriage.
He argued that there was also an economic argument in favour of the introduction of divorce, especially since the number of children listed as having an 'unknown father' would decrease and hence, so would be the demand for social benefits.
Dr Muscat said the PL had now become the home of all liberal-minded people and those against divorce felt uncomfortable in the PN.
Dr Muscat said the Church had a right to voice its disagreement with divorce. The Pl had no battle with the church and he hoped there would be a healing process once all this was over.
Victory for the no camp would be a hollow victory for the church, he said.
Dr Muscat expressed his pride at the Labourites who had been the soldiers of steel in the Labour-Church victory of the 1960s. Should the no camp triumph, he said, Malta would now have a new generation of soldiers of steel who would stand and be counted for their principles, because, he said, they were on the right side of history.
The Labour leader said he had heard about plans for some people to celebrate in the streets if one side or the other won on Sunday. He saw no reason for such celebrations, he said.