Divorce Bill backbencher defends 1998 opinion

Pro-divorce MP Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando has defended his change of heart on the issue since 1997, when he had written vociferously against divorce at the time Prime Minister Alfred Sant had put it on the agenda.

In an article that had originally appeared on May 29, 1998 and which is being circulated via e-mail, the politician had said: “I disagree with the introduction of divorce in our country as I feel this could weaken the foundations of Maltese society: the family”. He had said this in reaction to a report saying he was pressuring then Nationalist Party leader Eddie Fenech Adami on divorce.

In another article called Le! (No!), penned in 1997 and published in the PN daily In-Nazzjon, Dr Pullicino Orlando had written: “When a patient goes to a doctor with a splinter in his foot, the doctor tries to remove the splinter and not amputate his leg. To help a minority of couples whose marriage is beyond hope, we cannot put hundreds of other couples in danger,” he had written. He went on to say that western societies had seen a rapid rise in divorce in the previous 20 years, which he attributed to a “divorce mentality brought about through media influence and accessibility to divorce”.

Asked how he justified the drastic change of opinion, Dr Pullicino Orlando: “I said those things in 1997. I don’t think you can refer to an opinion somebody expressed 13 years ago and keep saying such opinions can’t be adapted to the country’s circumstances... It would be a shame if you didn’t adapt.”

“If you go through a certain trauma, you’re certainly bound to empathise more with people going through the same experience.”

He insisted he stood by all he said in the divorce debate, adding he would have no problem with obtaining a divorce. However, he still thought his views on the matter 13 years ago were right for the time.

“A third of children weren’t all born out of wedlock. At the time, 25 per cent of marriages weren’t breaking up. These are all factors that have to be taken into consideration.”

Alternattiva Demokratika, he said, had drawn his attention to the Irish divorce law, which, in turn, made him see how divorce could in fact be responsible.

“The first time these articles were mentioned was in a PN executive meeting by Austin Gatt and I had been expecting it since the start of the campaign,” Dr Pullicino Orlando said. He said his position at the time was no different from the position taken by Lawrence Gonzi and Dr Gatt, “who are not saying they were against divorce per se but against divorce for now. It is here that I disagree with them. I think it’s about time.”