Cohabitation was not an alternative to divorce, Labour MP Michael Farrugia said on Monday. The Prime Minister had expressly said he was in favour of cohabitation but this legislation did not cater for any safeguards for children.
The reason why a referendum was to be held was for the House to have the people’s direction. Both parties did not have an electoral mandate on divorce, but MPs had the obligation to act according to citizens’ guidance. One could not vote against divorce just because one was against it.
The government had already accepted divorce because the Rent Laws protected the second wife of a divorced man but did not protect the partner in cohabitation.
Dr Farrugia said that he believed in marriage. Statistics showed divorce was needed. At present one could see a rise in the number of people who decided to remain single – there was an increase of 19 per cent between 1995 and 2005. Moreover, the number of married couples also went up between the same periods by eight per cent, from 182,000 people in 1995 to 185,000 in 2005. Those who remarried increased by 15 per cent.
At the same time the amount of separations was also going up. In 1995 there were 4,120 people who had separated but this number shot up to 11,000 by 2005. The same trend could be noticed over annulment and divorce: from 978 in 1995 to 2,309 in 2005, a volley of 136 per cent.
It was not true that divorce was a new concept to the island because various Maltese have made use of foreign-recognised divorces. In 2007, foreign recognised divorces amounted to an average of 30 to 40 cases per annum. Annulments amounted to 167 in 2007 and to 188 in 2008.
Maltese statistics differed from statistics of large countries like the US. One had to be careful in quoting foreign data, because Malta’s situation was different.
Reality was that not all children had the opportunity to grow up together with both parents. There were people who were suffering depression due to physical and emotional abuse. There were even children who were suffering from depression because they got involved in domestic battering.
What government spokesmen said with respect to public funds being used in the referendum campaign was unacceptable and an insult.
It was vital that divorce became part of Malta’s statute book, Dr Farrugia said.