Labour organ claims Fenech Adami threatened to resign over civil unions law

The Opposition’s decision to abstain on the Civil Unions Act vote has only served to paper over the cracks within the Nationalist Party’s conservative and liberal MPs, particularly deputy leaders Beppe Fenech Adami and Mario de Marco.

The Malta Independent on Sunday reports that the party's conservative side, led by Fenech Adami, pushed for a vote against the law due to its adoption clause, while on the other hand, De Marco, who is perceived as representing the liberal Nationalists, wanted the party to vote in favour of the bill.

Faced with an internal rift between the party’s deputy leaders, PN Leader Simon Busuttil subsequently decided that the Opposition would abstain en bloc on the Civil Unions Act, a decision which was met by a chorus of boos by the LGBT community, and which served to portay a "united" party.

On Monday, just before parliament approved the Civil Unions Act, Simon Busuttil announced the Opposition's abstention – insisting that it had “reservations” on the gay adoption clause, and that the country was not yet ready.

However, the party’s “unifying” decision to abstain, has only served to expose a rift between the party – more so after Civil Liberties Shadow Minister Claudette Buttigieg had declared that she wanted the party to vote in favour of the Act.

But, It-Torca and Kullhadd report, the Opposition’s en bloc abstention was only done to avoid the resignation of Beppe Fenech Adami and three other Nationalist MPs.

Labour media organ Kullhadd reports that if any Nationalist MP voted in favour of the bill, Deputy Leader Beppe Fenech Adami, as well as Health Shadow Minister Claudio Grech, would have resigned from the party.

“Beppe Fenech Adami and Claudio Grech threatened Busuttil that if the party voted in favour of the Civil Unions Act, they would have resigned from the party,” Torca reports.

In addition, speaking to Sunday newspaper Illum, liberal Nationalists have insisted that the party’s decision shows that the party is not succeeding in conveying its message to the people. Ingrid Brownrigg, a member on the party’s executive, argued that the party’s failure to explain its stand would not go down well with the electorate – a move which could see the PN get the short end of the stick in the upcoming elections.

On his part, Jean Claude Micallef, who in January was not chosen as MEP candidate, argued that the party’s abstention was certainly not a step in the right directions towards securing the trust of certain sectors of the electorate.