The Yes vote in Saturday’s referendum was welcomed by people in Valletta, and those against divorce were surprisingly hard to come by. People told Nikki Abela Mercieca they now expected parliamentarians to respect the will of the people.

Vincent Fenech, 81, Floriana

I’m very happy with the referendum result because my daughter suffered with her ex-husband and now can sort things out. I had been married 56 years and my wife passed away four years ago, so divorce doesn’t apply to me. But I’ve been bitten so I understand. I think we’ve spent all this money for nothing as laws should be passed through Parliament.

Flavio Gerardi, 19, Victoria

To be honest, I was happy it passed because having a choice is always better. God forbid the parliamentarians do not respect the will of the people now.

Steven Ciangura, 34, Rabat

I think the result was positive. The people wanted it. I think the parliamentarians will respect the vote, as the Prime Minister immediately declared he would, and we will now wait to see what will happen.

Morris Cordina, 61, Mtarfa

The result is the will of the majority but I worry that in the future we will have to pay for it. With more chances for families to to break up, social services may increase and we will have to pay for them through taxpayers’ money. To me, however, Parliament shouldn’t even need to vote on the result if it is the will of the majority. Parliamentarians should just give the people what they want and then see what happens.

John Farrugia, 65, Cospicua

For me the result was positive. To be honest I was initially siding with the No camp but then I changed my mind. I literally changed it at the last minute. I think the government should bow its head as I did and accept the result. As my wife will tell you, at the beginning I was confused listening to all the discourse because I had said marriage was everlasting. But as the debate heated up I changed my mind.

Alan Galea, 33, Mġarr

Really, the result doesn’t really affect me but it was a positive outcome as it was the choice of the people. I think the parliamentarians will respect this choice now.

Natasha Singh, 19, St Paul’s Bay

I think the result was good... I voted yes and I think it’s about time Malta caught up with modern times... I think it’s about time we join the rest of the world. Now we’ll see if parliamentarians will respect our vote.

Michael Inkorvaja, 45, Birżebbuġa

I think it was a good result and what the people want, after all. I hope parliamentarians respect our vote now as they represent us and should respect public opinion.