Opposition MPs are likely to abstain when the final vote on the Civil Unions Bill is taken this evening, Times of Malta has learnt.
The law will grant gay couples the same rights and obligations as married people, including the possibility to adopt children.
Opposition leader Simon Busuttil yesterday avoided the issue during the customary Sunday morning address to party supporters. But when asked later by this newspaper on how the party will vote on the third and final reading of the Bill, he said an explanation would be given “just before the vote”.
Dr Busuttil said the matter had been “discussed at length” within the parliamentary group over the past six months. “The decision will only be final at the moment the vote is cast,” he added.
Labour MPs who are uncomfortable or have raised questions on gay adoptions have been unceremoniously told to shut up
However, party sources said MPs were split on the issue with gay adoptions proving to be the most controversial aspect of the Bill.
While a significant number of MPs had argued in favour of a free vote, it was decided the best solution would be for the PN to “unite” and abstain, the sources said.
They added that the leadership wanted to avoid a situation where MPs would split into three groups –in favour, against and abstentions – as happened in the divorce vote three years ago.
The sources said the party would have backed the Bill had the government opted to deal with the issue of gay adoptions separately and not as part of the legislation.
While acknowledging the party was treading on thin ice on this issue as a result of its conservative grassroots, the sources pointed out that, unlike Labour, there was a free internal debate. “Labour MPs who are uncomfortable or have raised questions on gay adoptions have been unceremoniously told to shut up,” a PN source said.
Prime Minister Joseph Muscat yesterday described tonight’s vote as “historic”. To loud applause, he urged supporters not to fear change and hold up the ideals of equality and justice the party forefathers had fought for. He mentioned the introduction of civil marriage, the right for women to vote, maternity leave and the minimum wage.
Dr Muscat said it was ironic that people who championed Malta’s entry into the EU were “trembling” in front of the civil unions vote. “Ten years after EU membership, the movement that reflects the European ideals of liberalism... is the Labour movement,” he said.
Sounding upbeat, Dr Muscat said the Labour parliamentary group and Cabinet would all support the law and hoped the Opposition would do the same to send out a clear signal of political maturity.
Referring to surveys that showed 80 per cent were against gay adoptions, Dr Muscat said there were other occasions when decisions that caused a clear separation between State and Church were opposed by a majority.
Time proved the proponents of change right, he insisted, adding that the Labour movement was “on the right side of history”.
“We have waited 25 years for this to happen and tomorrow [Monday] will be the day when another stone in the foundations of Church-State separation is laid,” Dr Muscat said.
His message is echoed by Civil Liberties Minister Helena Dalli, who, in her column today (see page 14), argues that tonight’s vote is about equality and justice.
“We are genuinely using the power of our position to call all those of goodwill to join us on the right side of history.
“How can we deny human beings their rights and in some way say they are not deserving of equal dignity, of respect, of legal recognition?”