Malta will have divorce legislation by the end of July, according to the government’s plans, but a series of proposals will be presented to fine-tune the divorce Bill before Parliament.
In a PN parliamentary group meeting yesterday, the party decided to set up a committee to propose amendments to the Bill.
It will be made up of Deputy Prime Minister Tonio Borg, Family Minister Dolores Cristina, Parliamentary Secretary Mario de Marco and backbenchers Francis Zammit Dimech and Jesmond Mugliett.
This means the committee includes staunchly anti-divorce MPs like Dr Borg and Mrs Cristina, as well as pro-divorce Mr Mugliett and moderates Dr de Marco and Dr Zammit Dimech.
During yesterday’s discussion there was agreement that the spirit of the referendum question must be strictly adhered to but the Bill would have to be fine-tuned in various ways.
The committee was set up on the suggestion of Dr Borg following fears from backbenchers that some MPs might try to propose amendments that went against the referendum question.
The Labour Party last week set up a similar committee made up of deputy leader Toni Abela, José Herrera, Owen Bonnici, pro-divorce campaigner Evarist Bartolo, Justyne Caruana, Marie Louise Coleiro Preca and Silvio Parnis.
The PN’s three-hour meeting held yesterday turned out to be a calm affair, although it was called after a very heated e-mail exchange between members of the group on Sunday.
Sources told The Times that some MPs had been particularly annoyed about comments by pro-divorce MP Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando, that MPs had no option but to vote in favour of the divorce Bill. Others were still angry that the Prime Minister had not yet declared how he would vote, creating uncertainty about how his MPs should vote.
However, Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi yesterday seemed to have quelled calls for him to declare his vote. He assured his MPs that the divorce Bill would pass by July and said it did not make sense to take rigid positions on voting before the Bill was amended and completed.
Speaking after the meeting, a seemingly at ease Dr Gonzi told the press that the issue merited a special parliamentary procedure and therefore a motion to suggest the process would be tabled by the government.
Dr Gonzi did not take further questions from journalists.
During the meeting the party also discussed whether it should revise its anti-divorce stand. Finance Minister Tonio Fenech indicated this was something which would “eventually” have to be addressed while MP Edwin Vassallo disagreed. The Prime Minister said this would be discussed at a later stage.