Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi yesterday criticised the pressure being put on MPs to declare their vote on the divorce Bill in advance.
He assured Yes voters he did not intend to play a chess game or to steal their victory, so the Bill would go through. But, he admitted, this was not something that made him happy because he was against and would remain against divorce, adding that such positions of principle “cannot be morphed like chewing gum”.
He said the outcome of the referendum was not being contested as had happened with the EU referendum and divorce legislation would, therefore, be enacted, despite his personal stand against divorce.
Refraining from saying how he would vote, he said everyone should be free to vote according to one’s conscience, as long as the democratic will ultimately prevailed.
Since doubts were raised over the passing of the Bill, he had met his MPs individually to establish whether there was a clear majority. “If there is a vote today on this law, it will pass and with a substantial majority,” he assured listeners on party station Radio 101.
However, he said the parliamentary process was still at it infancy and Parliament still had to see how to give birth to a law that respected the parameters of the divorce question, which, he pointed out, the vast majority of the PN parliamentary group voted against.
Dr Gonzi criticised Labour leader Joseph Muscat for not allowing his MPs to vote freely and using a discourse of threats against those MPs like Adrian Vassallo and Marie Louise Coleiro Preca who were not comfortable voting Yes.
“Everyone should be able to vote serenely and not because they are forced,” he said, adding this showed a radical difference between him and Dr Muscat.
Dr Gonzi said that if a situation arose where the conscientious decision of MPs put the democratic will in jeopardy, then MPs should reconsider their position in Parliament. But this was not the case, so the decisions of the minority should also be respected and defended.
Dr Gonzi said it did not make sense for MPs to be pressured into saying how they would vote when the Bill could still be changed.
“What will happen if someone makes an amendment that breaks one of the parameters of the question?”
He said he still respected the decision of those who voted No in referendum and were now saying they would vote yes.
“If we know as of now that everyone is bound to vote for this law, the parliamentary process is empty and irrelevant.”
Dr Gonzi repeated his appeal for the country’s wounds to heal and to end the ferocious attack on the Church as was being seen in Labour-leaning newspapers.
“I am not here to defend the Church – the Church knows how to defend itself – but I am here to defend democracy,” he said, adding that those claiming to be liberal and progressive should not gag others.
Parliament was working to come up with the best procedure for this Bill and leaving the committee stages open to the non-political movements that campaigned before the referendum.
Dr Gonzi also spoke about the upcoming Bills on IVF and cohabitation, saying both were at an advanced stage of drafting to be eventually presented in Parliament.