A week after defying the party Whip by voting against the introduction of gay marriage, Nationalist MP Edwin Vassallo has not yet learnt what the ‘punishment’ for his insubordination will be.
An online petition supporting him has already attracted close to 700 signatures.
Mr Vassallo, who had flagged his reservations about same-sex marriage to PN leader Simon Busuttil before the June 3 general election, fuelled controversy after being the only MP out of 67 to vote against the Marriage Equality Act at both the second and third readings.
The former Mosta mayor unsuccessfully campaigned for a free vote within the PN parliamentary group. He insisted that on matters of conscience and morality, legislators should not be put in a straightjacket and forced to toe the party line.
Mr Vassallo justified his objections to the law on the grounds that it went beyond the government’s mandate to introduce same-sex marriage, adding it would pave the way for surrogacy and gamete donation.
These values cannot be switched on and off according to circumstance
Though a handful of other Nationalist MPs had also ex-pressed their reservations, it was Mr Vassallo alone who ignored instructions last Wednesday.
His act of insubordination put him in the line of fire but also earned him the respect of thousands of PN supporters who identify with core Christian Democratic values.
In the aftermath of Mr Vassallo’s nay, a party spokesman told this newspaper it would be up to the “relevant party structure” to deal with the matter and take any disciplinary action it deemed necessary.
That has not happened so far, as confirmed by the MP himself, who said yesterday that at the time of writing, he had not been contacted about the matter. He would not comment further.
A party spokesman said the matter was still pending.
The delay has fuelled specu-lation that Mr Vassallo could emerge unscathed from this stand-off amid concerns that any form of punishment would only serve to widen the existing rift within the party on the issue.
The petition, started online seven days ago, expresses solidarity with Mr Vassallo for standing up for the values embraced by the signatories. It also calls on the PN to consider Mr Vassallo as their representative.
In a Facebook post uploaded to his page two days ago, Mr Vassallo insisted that he would strive to abide by human and Christian values.
These values could not be switched on and off according to circumstance, he said.