Updated: Adds, PN, PL statements
The Prime Minister is ready to have a parliamentary debate next week on the Opposition's motion for the holding of a referendum on divorce, the Nationalist Party said this evening.
It said that following the two rulings in parliament today, Dr Gonzi willl be consulting the Nationalist MPs on the Opposition motion.
The motion calls for the holding of a consultative referendum before the House debates the pending bill on the introduction of divorce. It also proposes a referendum question based on the Bill, notably that couples have to have been separated for four years before being eligible for divorce, and that maintenance and provisions for the care of children have to be in place.
This afternoon, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Michael Frendo, twice turned down a request by the Opposition for Parliament to have the motion discussed tomorrow,
There was uproar in the House when Dr Frendo rejected the second request - for a vote on the motion for the adjournment of the House - when he declared that the call had been made after the interruption of business and could not be accepted.
Opposition whip Joe Mizzi said he had made the request before the interruption of business. He said he would be contesting the ruling, which he described as partisan.
The Speaker rejected Opposition calls on points of order and immediately asked the Leader of the House to move the adjournment to next Monday.
Earlier today the House Business Committee failed to agree on a date when the House would debate the referendum motion, moved by the Opposition.
Leader of the House Tonio Borg said the PN parliamentary group still needed to discuss the motion, particularly the proposed referendum question.
He disagreed that the referendum question completely reflected the contents of the pending divorce bill.
Nationalist MP Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando said he was backing the Opposition motion and agreed with the referendum question as proposed. He was against changing the question.
He pointed out that the prime minister had said that the question should be based on the Bill before the House, and, Dr Pullicino Orlando said, that was what the motion did.
Following the disagreement in the House Business Committee, the Opposition requested in the House that the referendum motion be debated tomorrow.
The Speaker rejected the Opposition request.
The Opposition then asked for a vote on the adjournment motion but the Speaker rejected the request, saying the call had been made after the interruption of business.
GONZI-MUSCAT MEETING
Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi and Opposition leader Joseph Muscat this afternoon had a meeting at the House of Representatives about the proposed referendum on divorce - while the Speaker considered the Opposition request for parliament to discuss a motion tomorrow calling for the holding of a divorce referendum.
Informed sources said the two had discussed, but disagreed on the referendum question. Dr Gonzi had suggested that the people be asked simply whether or not they agreed with the introduction of divorce. Dr Muscat stuck to the question proposed by the Labour Parliamentary Group on Monday, based on the Bill currently before the House.
People in Parliament said that Dr Muscat had been seen leaving the meeting with Dr Gonzi, consulting PL deputy leader Anglu Farrugia, and going back. Dr Farrugia was seen having a discussion with Everist Bartolo, the co-mover of the Bill for the introduction of divorce.
Mr Bartolo was then seen chatting with the other co-sponsor, Nationalist MP Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando.
Following the sitting, which ended at 5.15 p.m. Dr Pullicino Orlando said in reply to questions that he had declared his backing for the Opposition motion because it reflected the contents of the bill he had co-sponsored and because the people were eager to see progress on this issue.
Once the prime minister had indicated he was prepared to have the debate on the bill this week or next week, Dr Pollicino Orlando said he saw no problem in the debate being held on the less contentious issue of when and how the referendum should be held, more so when Dr Gonzi was backing the holding of a referendum. What he had been after, Dr Pullicino Orlando said, was a time frame.
LABOUR PARTY STATEMENT
The Labour Party said that today's parliamentary sitting had confirmed that the motion it had presented for the holding of a referendum had majority support. This was something which had been declared in the House itself.
It was evident, the PL said, that the prime minister was ready to anything to avoid a vote in parliament and had used delaying tactics to avoid such a vote.
It said that the prime minister had relied on the Speaker's rulings to stop the debate which, clearly, the majority of MPs wanted.