Opposition deputy leader Mario De Marco said there was no political gain in putting forward an important constitutional amendment as safeguarding human rights was a feat achieved by both sides of the House.
He said he believed political parties should not attach partisan value to such an important subject, adding that as there was mutual agreement there was not point in disagreeing or in trying to score political points with the public.
Dr de Marco criticised Civil Liberties Minister Helena Dalli for trying to justify why this amendment was not moved by the Government, as if one needed to take merit for doing so. At the end of the day Parliament as a whole had to come to a definite conclusion for the benefit of Maltese society.
The Opposition moved the Private Member’s Bill because there was a need for it.
One tends to forget that all people are born equal
The Constitutional amend-ment showed any discrim-ination should not be tolerated because everyone should be treated equally and with dignity, despite the fact that some Maltese citizens felt diversity was a threat to their normality.
It was worrying to see 40 per cent of Maltese said they had suffered discrimination based on their sexual orientation.
At birth there was no distinction between one indiv-idual and another, but, through a person’s lifetime things such as personal opinion, education and race start to take precedence and one tends to forget that all people are born equal, he said.
Dr de Marco stressed the Nationalist Party had always its heart set on protecting peoples’ civil liberties and fundamental rights.
When it was first elected into government in the early 1960s, the party immediately transposed the European Convention on Human Rights into Maltese law.
One of the main concepts of the European Union was “unity in diversity” and this concept directly applied to Maltese society, he said.
Leading by example meant that politicans, as decision and opinion makers, had to show that discrimination based on sexual orientation was not acceptable in today’s society.