Arthur Galea Salomone, spokesman for the anti-divorce movement, said today that he was confident that the people on Saturday would not be misled by the divorce referendum question.

He said at a press conference that the people  would not be voting just about whether or not divorce should be introduced, but whether it should be introduced in the form proposed in a Bill currently before parliament.

The referendum question, he said, was misleading and deceitful.

Contrary to what the question implied, it was not true that people had to be separated for four years before they could get divorced. The Bill spoke about people needing to be separated or having lived apart for four years.

There was no requirement for mediation, as in the case of separation proceedings. Indeed, divorce could be imposed, something which the referendum question tried to hide.

Should divorce be introduced, even the second and subsequent marriages were definite, Dr Galea Salamone said.

The question, he said, gave the impression that maintenance and care for the children were guaranteed, when that was clearly not the case. For example, how far could a salary be stretched?

Divorce, he said endorsed the break-down of a marriage and would allow a stranger to take the place of one of the parents when children were born in the first marriage.

Asked if his movement would have acted differently had the form of divorce proposed in the Bill been different, Dr Galea Salomone said this was a hypothetical question. The movement, he said, was made up of people with different mindsets, but they all disagreed with this Bill as proposed.