After all, Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando does deserve a press card. He managed to turn the World Cup final day into Divorce Sunday. His presenting a Private Member's Bill on divorce got all Malta talking about it. Only one Sunday paper (guess which one) dedicated less than a page to the matter. JPO's timing was perfect: a few days prior to Parliament's summer recess and just before the news cycle started its midsummer lull.
Divorce may be very close to JPO's heart but his well-thought, strategic move is purely political. JPO is taking a big gamble, even though he probably knows things which few of us know about. The Nationalist Party has stated that it will now be giving the matter increased importance. Really, at this stage, it has little choice. The Prime Minister would have done without this latest embarrassment from a backbencher. Lawrence Gonzi realises that every MP has the right to present a Private Member's Bill. It is an "inclusive" right meant to give MPs, especially those in opposition, a voice in parliamentary life.
Coming from the government's side, such a move is a personal affront to the Prime Minister. Whether the Prime Minister got to know about the Bill from JPO himself, or otherwise, is not of essence. The former president of the Catholic Action has often reiterated his personal stand against divorce. Under pressure, the most that the PN offered in its electoral programme was a promise to legislate on cohabitation. For the PN, divorce remains an anathema.
JPO understands full well the implications and consequences of his action. The presentation of such a Bill is a declaration of war on the PN's top brass and its old guard. JPO knew where he had to kick so as to hurt hard. His move sends a strong, clear message to those that want to understand. He will use all his rights to get what he feels is his. No ministerial post, no party. It has been reported that JPO presented a fully-fledged law. This proves that his initiative had been brewing for a long while and is the outcome of a well thought stratagem. If anything, the controversy over the invitations for the Papal Mass at the Granaries only added to JPO's determination to proceed with his plans.
Obviously, JPO is still very upset by the way that he has been treated by the PN and all those that were trying to force him to resign from Parliament after the last general election. Having just a one-seat majority, the PN could not force the issue. JPO did not resign because in this Lilliput of ours nobody resigns. He must believe that the PN is being grossly ungrateful to ignore his having paved the way for the PN's victory in the last general election. His dissatisfaction was further accentuated when he was offered the chairmanship of the Malta Council for Science and Technology. Surely, the much-acclaimed, former Young Turk of the PN deserved something better. And so he schemed on in silence.
Was there no other route for JPO to take? Does the way that things have evolved reflect the sort of management that exists within the PN? What has happened to the "Partit tad-djalogu" (a party for dialogue)? Is this the way that things are done "together"? Does a backbencher have to present a Private Member's Bill to get his party to seriously debate such a socially important issue? JPO realises that very few such Bills ever become enacted and this could prove to be his political swan-song.
It is ironic that the party which got Malta into Europe is still resisting the modernisation of this country. Perhaps no other single issue tears apart the PN as divorce. It is a war between the past and the present. The EU may never force Malta to legislate for divorce. And, yet, its introduction is simply a matter of time. Whether we like it or not, the Maltese, and especially the younger generations, are fast becoming "Europeanised". The biggest impact of EU membership on Malta has not been economic but cultural. No local political party can now stop this.
The Prime Minister's initial reaction to JPO's political kamikaze was to shoot the ball into the crowd. It is they who should decide on such a sensitive matter. Perhaps we will have a referendum. Or it could be through the general election programme . A referendum will express the people's choice specifically on divorce. An electoral programme bundles together a number of issues. The latter course could prove to be very convenient for the PN. The way that the economy is going it will be hard for the PN to contest the next election on the government's economic performance. The PN could use its anti-divorce stand as its electoral battle-horse. This could be politically astute. It will be a very unfortunate move for divorce itself which will be sucked by that "black hole" which is our political system.
So where does JPO's Private Member's Bill go from here? King-pin JPO has set a deadline, the end of January 2011, for the Bill to be discussed in Parliament. Maybe it is a polite warning to his party leadership not to try and kill off his Bill. Interesting times lie ahead.