Valletta, July 26: Malta’s parliament on Monday adopted a law authorising divorce that is now set for formal approval by the president and likely to come into force in October in this overwhelmingly Catholic nation.
The law was passed by 52 votes in favour and 11 against with five abstentions, following a referendum in May which voted in favour of the change despite the opposition of Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi and his ruling Nationalist Party.
Malta and the Philippines are currently the only countries in the world to outlaw divorce, and the Mediterranean island state is the only member of the European Union to have such a ban in place.
The mini-state of the Vatican also bans divorce.
“The amendments to the original Divorce Bill had improved the law but this does not mean I’m happy with it,” Gonzi told reporters after Monday’s vote.
He added that he would feel “uncomfortable” about the introduction of divorce in Malta, which is “why I voted against it,” he said.
He had, however, allowed his MPs to vote according to their conscience and 19 of the Nationalist Party’s 35 deputies ended up voting in favour.
Opposition leader Joseph Muscat hailed the vote but said he was disappointed that the prime minister had voted against the people’s will in parliament.
The Roman Catholic Church, which looms large over the archipelago where 95 percent of the population is Catholic, did not campaign officially in May’s non-binding referendum in which 53 per cent of voters cast ballots in favour.
—PTI