All government MPs would face a real test of conscience on Saturday during the vote on a Labour motion condemning the government’s decision to increase Cabinet’s pay packet by €500 per week, Labour leader Joseph Muscat said yesterday.
Speaking at the Paola Labour Party club, Dr Muscat described Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi as the “highest-ever paid Prime Minister who imposed the highest-ever utility bills”.
Dr Muscat said that on Saturday MPs would have to declare whether they stood by the people or by Dr Gonzi.
“All Labour MPs will vote with the people and against this Prime Minister... This is the first real test of conscience for government MPs. On Saturday, there is no middle way. They either vote with the people or stand by Dr Gonzi,” Dr Muscat said with obvious reference to Nationalist MP Jean-Pierre Farrugia who last year publicly criticised the government for what he had described as insensitive salary increases.
Focusing on the divorce referendum result, Dr Muscat said Dr Gonzi was no ordinary MP and had no choice but to vote in favour of the divorce Bill. “The Prime Minister heads the Executive and was the one to propose a referendum on divorce and now he has no alternative but to vote Yes in Parliament if he wants his position to remain tenable,” he said.
“The Prime Minister put his party in a corner by pushing for an anti-divorce stand and has now brought about a situation that is untenable for him and the party,” Dr Muscat said. The Nationalist Party had no alternative but to change its “confessional” position against divorce.
“The Labour Party understands the difficulty the PN has on divorce because we were in that same position on EU membership. The PN can choose to bury its head in the sand and stick to its stand or else understand the signs of the times and change its position. I hope the PN realises the democratic reality that has developed after the referendum result.”
He said Labour MPs did not have to make any U-turns but in a cautionary tone insisted the will of the people had to be respected. He said Labour MPs had a choice to either vote Yes or abstain if their conscience did not allow them to vote in favour of the divorce Bill. “They can also vote No but anybody doing so has to shoulder the responsibility of that decision,” he said without clarifying what he meant.
At least one Labour MP, Adrian Vassallo, has declared he will vote against the Bill, a position he had made clear even before the referendum result.
Dr Muscat started his speech on a conciliatory note by reaffirming that the PL held no grudges for the Catholic Church. He sought to heal the animosity that may have sprouted during the heated divorce debate, which had rekindled memories in many of the 1960s politico-religious battle.
While insisting on the need for a clear distinction between Church and state, Dr Muscat said the PL viewed the Catholic Church as a partner in bringing about social change.
Reiterating that the PL was home to those who voted Yes and No in the referendum, Dr Muscat said the party’s doors remained wide open for Labour MP Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca, who last week declared she would not be standing for re-election.