A third private member's bill on the introduction of divorce has been presented to Parliament, but one of the movers, Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando said nothing had been changed from the second draft.

Speaking in Gozo this morning, Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi noted that a third bill had been presented to Parliament. He said that the PN had had a very good discussion within it about divorce and everyone spoke freely.

The party, he said, had as much a right as anybody else to take a position on this issue and it would do so, without slamming the door in anybody's face.

That position would be announced in the coming days once the discussion formally ended.

Matters would then proceed to the next step. A third bill on divorce had been presented to Parliament and that process had to be respected, Dr Gonzi said. However, once there was no popular mandate for the introduction of debate, the people would also have to be heard.

Dr Gonzi this this was a matter of the utmost importance and was being treated as such. He however rejected 'speculation' in newspapers' front pages about the position of the party.

When contacted, Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando, who presented the first private member's motion and co-presented the second and the third with Labour MP Evarist Bartolo, said that the only difference between the second and the third bills was in the structure, which had been changed on advice by the Clerk of the House. In line with requirements, the third bill also included a Maltese version.