Opposition leader Joseph Muscat insisted once more today that the Prime Minister should have voted Yes in the divorce vote in Parliament on Wednesday.

There was an important institutional difference between the role of a Prime Minister and that of an MP in Parliament, he said.

The Prime Minister had called for and backed the referendum, and he could not ignore its outcome. He should not have ignored what the people had said. Indeed, the fact that Dr Gonzi had closed his ears to what the people said was symptomatic of his government, which was ignoring the people.

Speaking at a One Radio interview, Dr Muscat said the Prime Minister was showing no confidence in the people. He had also shown insensitivity.

The people and parliament had now voted in favour of divorce, but the PN still had a position against divorce and had not given and indication of changing it, Dr Muscat observed.

Last week's developments showed how the PL was the party that was reading the signs of the times and grouping the people who wanted change.

Dr Muscat stressed that the PL still had a lot of work to do. It needed to convince more people to back it, and Labourites should learn the lesson of the past and not be complacent.

Dr Muscat welcomed Sliema deputy mayor Cyrus Engerer, who crossed over to Labour on Friday. Labour, he said, was thinking with a different attitude. For it, the important thing was not what people did in the past, but what they could do in the future. Mr Egerer was one of several people who had crossed to Labour recently. Some were not publically known, while others, like Deborah Schembri, were. These were progressive and moderate people who wanted to see the country take courageous and cautious decisions to modernise itself. In contrast, the conservatives in the PN wanted the status quo.