The Civil Unions Bill should not have included gay adoption, former PN leader Lawrence Gonzi says today in an opinion piece that breaks the silence which has characterised his political retirement.

Dr Gonzi says he felt compelled to write because he was quoted in a manner he found “unacceptable”.

The government has frequently cited comments by Dr Gonzi to argue the Nationalist Party has regressed under Simon Busuttil with its opposition to legislation allowing same sex couples to be eligible for adoption.

On The Big Debate, organised by Times of Malta ahead of the general election, Dr Gonzi had been asked if he believed same sex couples could raise children as well as heterosexual couples. He said they could but stressed that “the point is always about the right of the child, that comes before anything else”.

Today, he accuses the government of subjecting the child’s best interests to those of others with the Civil Union Act. No couple, heterosexual or straight, should have this right, he says. Nonetheless, he argues that the Nationalist parliamentary group could have been given a free vote, rather than abstain.

He ends his piece with a warning to “those still sitting on the fence”, arguing that the country could find itself discussing abortion next.

“After all, the arguments put forward to justify the right to adoption by gay couples (liberalism, minority rights, modern society, winds of change) will resonate also in this future abortion debate.”