Members of parliament who do not approve the divorce referendum result should resign, Alternattiva Demokratika said this morning.
AD chairman Michael Briguglio said that more than 53 per cent of voters wanted the introduction of divorce in Malta.
Parliamentarians, who did not have the courage to take a decision on divorce and shifted the responsibility onto the people through a referendum, should now stand by the result of the referendum, he insisted.
"Those who are not ready to vote in favour should resign. Any manoeuvring is simply unacceptable.
"Alternattiva Demokratika will be carefully analysing the situation and will make sure that parliamentarians do not take the Maltese electorate for a ride."
AD Spokesperson for Justice and Home Affairs David Friggieri described the matter as "a constitutional crisis".
"It is unacceptable in a democracy for members of parliament to simply brush off journalists' questions about their voting intentions.
"It is equally unacceptable for them to simply refer the population to their conscience as this creates an irresolvable tension between the democratic process and faith-based reasons which can never be solved through dialogue, an essential component of modern democracies."
Mr Friggieri said that for these MPs, faith would always trump any other considerations, including a clear referendum vote, thereby undermining the democratic process itself.
Furthermore, some MPs, including the Prime Minister, were engaging in "mathematical democracy" giving assurances that the bill would pass because the numbers added up, but being evasive about their individual voting intentions.
"Our democratic processes mustn't be undermined in this way and AD is calling for the people to stand up for their democracy."
EU spokesman Arnold Cassola said that the behaviour of Maltese parliamentarians was unacceptable by EU standards, which required full transparency and openness from the elected representatives of the people.
"The coalition of confessional parliamentarians from PN and PL had already abdicated their responsibilities when they refused to legislate on divorce and shifted the onus onto the people.
"Now that the people have spoken clearly and decided, this irresponsible coalition is trying to deny the people their legitimate rights.
"Let us not let them succeed in their effort, which goes against the basic tenets of democracy.
"The will of the people must prevail and any MP who has conscience problems has an honourable way out: that of resigning immediately," he said.
HEAVY POLICE PRESENCE
Just before the press conference, held in Ordinance Street close to the June 7 monument, the AD contingent was met by a contingent of around 20 policemen who blocked access to Hastings Garden, where the official June 7 commemoration was being held.
Dr Briguglio questioned the heavy police presence and said that yesterday he received a call from Speaker Michael Frendo who wanted assurances that that AD's event would not interrupt his Sette Giugno speech.
He hoped that Dr Frendo did not know about the police presence and the blockage of access by AD to Hastings.