Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi said this evening that he would not be influenced by the fact that divorce was available across the world.
Speaking at the official launch of the Centre for family studies, which has been set up at the University, at Castille this evening, Dr Gonzi said that if studies in other countries showed those countries that divorce was the way forward, that was a matter for them and their societies.
What interested him, the Prime Minister said, was Malta and he was not going to be embarrassed by someone who said that Malta was the only country that did not have certain rights.
“I am not going to decide matters according to what is happening other countries,” he said.
The centre, set up to research the family and issues surrounding it, such as divorce and reproductive technology, has an apolitical identity. It aims to help families and to produce, encourage and promote research on Maltese families while acting as a consulting body to government and non-governmental organisations.
Dr Gonzi criticised the way the draft divorce law was presented earlier on this year, when PN backbencher Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando tabled a private members bill.
Yesterday, another bill was tabled by Dr Pullicino Orlando and Labour MP Evarist Bartolo, to reflect more the Maltese situation.
“I think that on a serious matter such as the family, legislative proposals warrant serious thought and research before one goes to parliament and debate them,” he said.
Pro-rector Mary Anne Lauri said that individuals were complex and families were even more so and required special training and particular knowledge to work with and understand.
The centre, she said, could hel[ Maltese families and provide important research.
Two of the research projects currently being undertaken are about adolescent pregnancy and relationship breakdown.
The results of the research should give a better picture of the family in Malta, she said.
Guest Janet Walker, who had started a similar centre at Newcastle University, said the family had undergone dramatic changes in the past 30 years through smaller families, an increase in cohabitation, divorce, separation, step-families, same sex partnerships and female employment.
Prof. Walker said it was very important and timely to have a centre in Malta to study the Maltese situation.
She said it was very important for research to be focused and relevant and presented as simply as possible so that it could be understood.