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Divorce bill | Joseph Muscat non-committal on his vote in debate
Defending himself from claims by TV presenter Lou Bondi, that PN MP Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando's Private Member's Bill threw Muscat and the PL off-balance, the PL leader said that he would not commit himself on a bill that is so far "in the air".
Speaking on PBS's Bondiplus, Opposition leader Joseph Muscat strayed from committing himself on how he would vote should a private member's bill proposed by Nationalist MP Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando be brought before parliament.
Muscat insisted that he would not commit himself before government announces its own position on the bill.
He stressed that there have been private members bills in the past, including one on divorce that did not reach a debate in parliament .
"There is no guarantee that this one would," Muscat stressed.
Asked whether he personally would vote in favour, or abstain, should the divorce bill be brought before parliament, Muscat avoided answering directly, insisting that one should wait to see on how divorce will be handled by government.
Nevertheless, he affirmed that in principle, he is in favour of divorce, and reiterated his ‘pledge’ to grant a free vote to opposition MPs should the time come in parliament.
He affirmed that he is very interested to see how the much-touted divorce public consultation would manifest itself.
Joseph Muscat maintained that Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi is contradicting himself on issue and dragging his feet, expressing his doubts on how a politician could introduce something he is not in favour of.
Should a referendum be called for, he affirmed, "let it be so" but he stressed on the need for a uniform and widely-accepted agreement on how divorce be introduced into the country.
Muscat stressed that he is in favour of "responsible divorce".
Stephen Proudfoot •
Joe South - inti habieb ta Lorri Sant u qed tistahba.
Fiex tifem?
Bondi Plus issaqsi mistoqsijiet li il poplu jiextieq isaqsi lil mexxejja tal partit - mhur aqbes mil Barrack halli tkun fil headlines jekk tridna naqraw fuqhekk
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Can anyone witness a more pathetic programm as Bondiplus?
Perhaps next week when the PM comes on, we might be able to understand media manipulation better.
Last Monday if the two main characters were any more intimate with each other, there would be a need for them to declare their real ambitions and come out of the closet.
While the GUEST remains hopeful that the HOST will one day endorse the PL and get on stage with his guitar singing the PL anthem.
The HOST is paving the way, that if ever the GUEST by some unseen or unpredictable reason become PM, BENDUPLUS and his herd will remain in control of PBS. There would not be any reason to ask, where's everybody going now?
Come election time this kind of journalistic collusion with show and tell comedy hour between Joseph Muscat and his accomplice will saddle the PL with more luggage than a curbside porter could carry.
Hopefully Mr. Joe South might be on hand to give a helping hand by voting the same old way for the same party boys.
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@Joe South
I never saw Looo more uncomfortable then he was yesterday, unable to catch Joseph off guard.
Let's see if Looo will call gonzi to the programm and ask him about Divorce, gonziPN mayors, BWSC, party fiancing.......
Phillip Martin Micallef •
mux ovja!.............mela JM ha jikkometi fuq xi haga li ghada ma tezistijx!!!!....................bhala principju ga qal li jaqbel imma trid tifhem ux tara l-kontenut!!!
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I think Dr.joseph Muscat was very cautious, because it was a trap from Lou Bondi to see the intentions of th MLP leader on how would they vote if , and I say if only the bill of Dr.Jeffrey Pulliciono orlando would be forwarded.yes even i would say like dr.joseph Muscat- first i will see the bill and gov intentions and than i decide if to vote for it or not- Mr.Lou Bondi he told you he will only if the bill is a responsable one...
but you kept on asking same question .you wanted to hear the YES! Lou Bondi ........ all noticed that from you....its a serious thing mr.Lou bondi we cannot say yes on a contract until we see it well than after we read it well we can sign - hmmmmmmmmm lame.....
Michael Briguglio •
It is unfair to say that Muscat was "non-committal on his vote in debate".
In fact the made himself perfectly clear. He is in favour of divorce but he has to see the bill that the gov will be presenting to see how he will vote. And that is more than reasonab;e.
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Is there anyone still not convinced that Bondi+ is co-scripted by Daphne Caruana Galizia?? The line of questioning, if you can call it that, followed precisely DCG's articles. The Magistrate, the stand on divorce, corruption, living wage. Everything. Lou's body language speakes volumes! The "hdura" in his eyes and voice is unmistakeable. I think Muscat is learning to get used to this style. He manages to keep his cool, and I think this frustrates Lou to an extent that he cant control his emotions any longer.
Paul Sammut •
Sur min kiteb dan l-artiklu, mela qed tahseb li hawn xi hadd li ghadu jixtri l-hut fil-bahar biex tipretendi li wiehed jabel ma xser jghamel il-gvern min issa? What if the prime minister's objective is actually to kill the movement in favour of divorce? If the prime minister was in favour of giving people the option of divorce he would have grabbed the opportunity and presented JPO's bill. On the other hand he has already declared that he is against divorce and so if he is true to himself he would stall it. We have a prime minister who is known not to keep his word. It has become a well known fact that he cannot be trusted any more. The prime minister is the real obstacle to the introduction of divorce in Malta.
Alfred Galea •
Can anyone please tell me why any PL leader or any PL MP go on this show knowing that the only reason they're invited is to give more ammunition to Bondi's masters, the PN?
Bondi+ and Xarabank should be out of bounds for PLers.
