The Opposition Leader was “hostage to extremist factions” in his own party, leading to a change in position on gay adoptions, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat charged yesterday.
Quoting from an article that appeared on Times of Malta in January, during the general election campaign, Dr Muscat said the Nationalist Party had said it was ready to change the law to allow gay couples to adopt children.
However, it had now backtracked and taken an even more conservative approach.
“I always thought (former PN leader) Lawrence Gonzi was conservative and I never thought that his successor would be even more conservative than him,” Dr Muscat said during an interview on One Radio.
“Simon Busuttil’s change in position on adoptions by same-sex couples shows how he is being held hostage by extremist factions within the PN,” he added.
Referring to Dr Busuttil’s suggestion to send the matter to Parliament’s Social Affairs Committee for a social impact assessment, Dr Muscat said the government felt there should be a social impact assessment for each adoption, whether by gay or straight individuals. He said Dr Busuttil “slipped up” when calling for such an assessment for gay couples.
“It is a bigoted stand and I believe that such a study would be challenged at a European level because it starts from a point of presuming same-sex couples are different and that is discrimination. This would only serve to further marginalise gay people,” Dr Muscat said.
He was convinced that “time will prove us right on this” and that future generations would judge this government and conclude it was “on the right side of history”.
When speaking on the PN’s radio station, Dr Busuttil said it was time to regularise relationships between same-sex couples.
“We are saying: let’s make a distinction between civil union and marriage. We don’t want to give fewer rights but we want to make a distinction,” he said.
“We are proposing that the government studies the situation before allowing gays to adopt.
“We are not talking about gays’ rights but the rights of children.”
Dr Muscat also spoke on the oil scandal, saying he was “concerned” by the “institutionalised bribery at Enemalta” while people were paying sky-high bills.
He said the government’s planned reduction in utility bills was on track and it had appointed former PN minister Michael Falzon to act as a watchdog and oversee the procurement process.
Dr Muscat said former land minister Jason Azzopardi had to carry responsibility for when, under the previous government, a property owner in Xemxjia had been given land that was worth a lot more than the one that had been expropriated.