The time has come for a national discussion on euthanasia, Prime Minister Robert Abela said on Sunday.

Speaking at a Labour Party event, Abela said he was yet to make up his mind on the controversial subject, but he believed the issue should no longer be swept beneath the rug.  

Abela said PL deputy leader Daniel Micallef had recently spoken in favour of euthanasia after his own father had lost his battle with a fatal illness. 

However, Abela said, he had himself recently gone through an experience where a close personal friend from Qormi who was not expected to survive being diagnosed with coronavirus had made it out of the hospital’s ITU and was now back home with his family.  

These experiences, he said, showed how important it was to take decisions. 

Just as the Labour party had been courageous when it came to spearheading other social reforms, it could not continue to ignore this delicate issue which touches so many people’s lives, he said. 

In a Facebook post in October, Micallef reacted to news that New Zealand is to introduce euthanasia. He said that he was not only in favour of voluntary euthanasia but he was campaigning to see this right introduced when the time comes. 

Article 213 of the Maltese Criminal Code says: “Whosoever shall prevail on any person to commit suicide or shall give him any assistance, shall, if the suicide takes place, be liable, on conviction, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 years.”

According to a 2016 survey 90.2 per cent of doctors registered in Malta are against the introduction of euthanasia. 

So-called active euthanasia, when fatal treatment is administered to end life, is only legal in a handful of countries around the world. 

Conversely, passive euthanasia, when life-saving treatment is withheld, is far more common.

Confidence in the future

Abela devoted most of his address - at party headquarters - to his experience leading the government through the COVID-19 pandemic, recalling how Cabinet had drafted plans for a possible food shortage back in March.  

“Ask yourselves which government in recent history had to plan for the possibility of our ports being closed and there being a shortage of essential supplies and even food” Abela said. He also reiterated his confidence in the future after May.

Oliver Scicluna promises to be honest, forthright politician

Earlier during the political activity, Oliver Scicluna who heads the Commission for persons with disability, addressed the party faithful after being approved as a new MP.  

Scicluna is to be co-opted after Gavin Gulia stepped down from the House moments after being sworn in last week.  

Scicluna pledged to be an honest MP who would not shy away from telling the prime minister when he disagreed with him.  

Abela, on his part said he saw more responsibility in Scicluna’s political future, hinting at a possible cabinet post in the not-so-distant future.  

The prime minister defended the manoeuvring that led to Scicluna’s co-option to parliament saying it was the same mechanism used by the last two leaders of the opposition.

 

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.