Everyone has “a huge burden to vote” in the crucial divorce referendum on Saturday, according to Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi.
Speaking at a Nationalist Party activity in Mellieħa, Dr Gonzi called on everyone to shoulder their responsibility and vote according to their conscience.
“Everyone has the duty, a huge burden on him to vote. This referendum could (affect) not just what happens in the next five years. It’s a big burden and the result could affect us for long years,” he said.
“We have to decide whether we want to keep or change something that has been with us for thousands of years,” he said in reference to the idea of indissoluble marriage.
His comments came in the wake of three surveys carried out independently by The Sunday Times, Xarabank and MaltaToday, all of which showed the yes vote edging ahead of the no vote. The studies also indicated there were many people who were not sure whether they would vote or, if so, how, which was enough to tip the balance one side or the other.
“Don’t take anything for granted. Everyone has to do their duty,” Dr Gonzi said, referring to those who had not yet collected their vote, and adding: “Be careful on Saturday. It’s a fundamental choice we have to do”.
The PN event was based on the family and instead of Dr Gonzi speaking for an hour, various people shared their experiences of family life.
Epifanio Vella, a visually-impaired family man, set his disability aside and, with his wife, adopted three children.
“I’m positive and I try, despite all my problems, to determine my life, not letting my life determine me. I married, I have a wife, God didn’t give me children, so I adopted three kids. Why? Because I believe in the family, in the nucleus of society, a family made of dad and mum and then I got the children... If our family is not on solid ground, our society isn’t either.”
Mr Vella said he had faced numerous hardships in his married life, including last year when had to undergo heart bypass surgery.
“I wanted to live for my family because I believe in a beautiful family,” he said, adding that “by turning a blind eye – or a blind ear in my case – we moved forward”.
Economist Stephanie Cutajar said it was time for the state to prepare people going into marriage and to offer more support to those going through a hard time.
Dr Gonzi caught on this, saying people had to be prepared to shoulder the responsibilities of marriage through thick and thin. “When we get married we say it but sometimes we forget (that it’s for better or for worse). We think it’s like in fairy tales, where they lived happily ever after... If only it were like that,” he said.
“Marriage presumes that there are moments where you don’t live happily ever after and moments of challenge, trials, moments of sacrifice... and I ask: Do we still want to do this?”