Gonzi favours 28 May because he wants studies to confirm the negative impact of divorce
Nationalist backbenchers were gob smacked to be told by their Prime Minister that he favoured the date of the 28 May for the referendum on divorce.
Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi said the date would allow him to see through studies on the impact of divorce on the family. Gonzi, who is fervently against divorce, now favours a simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’ referendum.
He told MPs that he would expect the Institute of the Family at University to carry out an impact study on the introduction of divorce on the family and for the ultra conservative (see interview pg 10) Helen D’Amato who child commissioner to carry out a study on this too.
The Prime Minister is caught between two stools: on one side he has the pro-divorce MPs led by Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando and on the other, the ultra-conservatives led by Austin Gatt.
But he has the conviction of the majority of his parliamentary group, who oppose divorce.
Labour Party leader Joseph Muscat said in a statement late last night that he favoured the 28 May as well but he is insisting on his original motion, which states that the referendum should focus on the ‘divorce bill’ as proposed by Pullicino Orlando.
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