Updated 5.20pm - Added Party of European Socialists statement
Opposition leader Simon Busuttil made it clear this morning that the Nationalist Party will remain against abortion and euthanasia.
He was reacting to a statement by pro-life group Gift of Life, which chided the party after it failed to react to comments on abortion and euthanasia by candidate Salvu Mallia yesterday.
"I reiterate that under my leadership, the Nationalist Party will not be open to the legislation of abortion or euthanasia.
"Whilst having people in the party with different views is a strength that I welcome, the party’s position on abortion and euthanasia will not change under my leadership."
He said the same cannot be said on Prime Minister Joseph Muscat who is clearly flirting with the idea of introducing one or both should he win the next election.
Whilst having people in the party with different views is a strength that I welcome, the Party’s position on abortion and euthanasia will not change under my leadership.
In a reaction, the Labour Party said Dr Busuttil was showing himself to be weak.
Earlier today, Mr Mallia said he was in favour of education, not abortion.
"Whoever told you I'm in favour of abortion? I'm in favour of education," Mr Mallia wrote in a Facebook post.
Gift of Life criticised the Nationalist Party leadership for having made no attempt so far to reassure the public that it upholds pro-life values after Mr Mallia told The Sunday Times of Malta that euthanasia and abortion should be personal choices.
The group called Mr Mallia's comments 'disturbing'.
"Since this was reported, the party leadership has so far made no attempt to reassure the people of Malta that it continues to solidly uphold pro-life values without exceptions. It therefore remains unclear to people whether the party has radically changed its position and that it now agrees with the intentional killing of the unborn, the old or infirm," the pressure group said.
"We remind all political parties that is not acceptable and if anything, it is completely inconsistent, for one to claim to be personally against the killing of others and at the same time, to be in favour of others having the choice to do the very thing they claim to be against."
It said Malta is witnessing the same type of "engineered language" frequently used by pro-abortion activists to justify the unjustifiable.
"Killing an innocent human being in the name of personal choice is also deeply contradictory. In the case of the unborn, this very act directly impinges on the rights and the choice of the unborn to live."
The group thanked Foreign Minister George Vella for having taken a "clear pro-life stand" in response to this worrying development.
In a tweet yesterday, Dr Vella said he respected anybody's views on practically any subject, but not everybody was qualified to speak on abortion and euthanasia with authority.
European Socialists 'horrified' at Mallia
Mr Mallia's comments also ruffled feathers on the European continent, with the Party of European Socialists releasing a statement calling on PN leader Simon Busuttil to "immediately disown" Mr Mallia's statement that Adolf Hitler was "very progressive".
"If Mr Busuttil does not have the courage even to stand up to one of his own candidates who has so clearly crossed the line, then he certainly does not have the necessary attributes to lead Malta's official opposition, never mind to stand for election to government," PES president Sergei Stanishev said.
He said it was "tasteless" for a political candidate to invoke Hitler when criticising Joseph Muscat.
In his interview with The Sunday Times of Malta, Mr Mallia argued that "dictators pretend to be nice" before using the example of Nazi Germany to make his point. "The first campaign against smoking was carried out by the Nazis. Society was affluent. That was Adolf Hitler. Was he good? I don’t think so!" the PN candidate said.