Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi said this morning that Labour's attitude on the divorce vote in Parliament showed intolerence and should serve as a warning for those who disagreed with Labour.
Speaking on Radio 101, Dr Gonzi said it was not true that Labour MPs had a free vote. One only needed to see Dr Muscat's comment on 'consequences' for Adrian Vassallo, the only Labour MP who voted No in Parliament on Wednesday.
Dr Gonzi said the pressure put on him and others over how to vote was a throwback of how Labour imposed its wishes on the people in the past.
Dr Muscat, it seemed, could say what he wished about divorce, but others could not, Dr Gonzi said. Dr Muscat had said he would remain in favour of divorce even if he was the last man standing, but that, it seemed, did not apply to others.
The PL did not have even minimum tolerance of those who disagreed with it. The leopard had not changed its spots. This should be a warning to many people, Dr Gonzi said.
Liberalism for Labour meant only that it welcomed everyone who disagreed with the prime minister, but those who did not agree with the PL would face consequences. This should lead people to remember what used to happen in the past to those who disagreed with the Labour Party. Some former Labour ministers were still on the Opposition benches and rather than telling others what to do, they should recalled what used to take place.
Dr Gonzi said he respected the decision by Cyrus Engerer (to switch to the PL) but he disagreed with him. He disagreed with the fact that on a single issue, in this case his vote, not the policy, Mr Engerer decided to cross to Labour.
It appeared that people were now changing sides just on one issue, even though they agreed on the remaining 99%.
Dr Gonzi said he had felt he should vote No for divorce, and he had explained his position. When he took his oath of Office as Prime Minister, he promised to take his decisions 'faithfully and conscientiously without fear or favour'.
He could not betray the oath he had taken, Dr Gonzi said, and he had been shocked by those who wished him to betray his solemn oath.
He was not a hypocrite and he would honour his oath.
Dr Gonzi said the PN had shown that the Nationalist MPs truly had a free vote. They were truly free to vote according to their conscience, and so had he.
As Prime Minister his duty was not about voting Yes, but to ensure that the outcome of the referendum was respected in Parliament. That was what had happened.
Had he been in a situation where his personal vote would have determined the outcome of the decision by Parliament, he would have acted differently, Dr Gonzi said.
However, once the decision by Parliament was clear, he had acted according to his conscience.
He hoped that the Divorce Bill would continue to be improved although he remained doubtful that the guarntees promised in the referendum question could actually be realised.
BUS SERVICE
Replying to a question on the bus service, Dr Gonzi said he was disappointed by the performance of the bus service in its first few days. Problems were caused by the drivers, but there were also administrative issues, some of which could have been avoided. Progress had been made. A review of the routes had also been launched.
He was confident that these difficulties would be overcome and he was pleased that the people were already seeing progress, such as in the fact that the new buses did not produce emissions.
More needed to be done to ensure that the service operated regularly and efficiently on the routes, leading the people to leave their cars in their garage. Other people had not had the courage to carry out such a massive reform, but the governemnt had done it, and he was confident that success would be achieved.