Joseph Meli (The Sunday Times, September 20) presumed to represent all Maltese Catholic voters by saying that they want to know, before the next election, where each individual politician stands on divorce.

I would like to dissociate myself from his call. As a Maltese Catholic voter I do not wish to know their position simply because I feel the issue should not be whether or not, but rather when and how, we should have divorce.

I firmly believe that in a democratic country, where the government represents the entire nation and not just Catholics, the politicians' obligations go beyond just fulfilling their Catholic faith.

Whether Mr Meli agrees or not with divorce is his prerogative. He will have the choice to resort to it once it becomes legal, but as a Catholic I do not see why he should impose his personal beliefs on the rest of society. As a Catholic, I do not need to impose my own beliefs on anyone else, simply because I am convinced of what I believe in and nothing will stop me from going against my religion.

The divorce issue goes deeper than just a matter of Catholic faith. There are many anomalies in the current legislation that need to be addressed. Simply reducing the debate about divorce to whether it is acceptable to the Catholic faith or not is not in anybody's interest.

Mr Meli also says that cohabitation and other forms of relationship should not be placed on the same level as marriage. He has just made this one good reason why divorce is needed. Another good reason is where a separated couple have no children and are now in a new relationship with children. These children should not carry the stigma of being labelled illegitimate.

Mr Meli's plea reminds me of the situations we had in the past when political parties were asked to declare themselves in favour of or against hunting, VAT, EU membership, and so on. Is this the way Mr Meli wants our politicians to represent so many people who have gone through so much hardship as well as physical, psychological, sexual or emotional abuse?