None of the Nationalist Party’s MPs ever requested a free vote on amendments to the IVF law during over 10 hours of discussions across three parliamentary group meetings, PN leader Bernard Grech told Times of Malta.

Grech has faced calls for a free vote after several MPs, including his predecessor Adrian Delia, took to Facebook to oppose the introduction of embryo testing ahead of a final vote in parliament this week on amendments to the IVF law.

However, Grech said the parliamentary group, composed of all MPs, had already decided it would vote in favour of the amended law.

“I never said no to a free vote. The matter was discussed in multiple parliamentary group meetings, and the issue of a free vote was never raised.

“After the discussion was concluded and the parliamentary group’s position confirmed, I started receiving requests for a free vote,” Grech said.

Grech argued that according to the party’s statute, it is the parliamentary group that decides on whether a free vote will be given, not the party leader.

The PN leader pointed out that the party had proposed several amendments to the law, which had been taken on board by the government.

Delia voiced his dissent on the introduction of embryo testing via a Facebook post on Sunday.

“To be clear, I declare that I do not agree with testing embryos that could endanger or be fatal to human life,” he wrote.

Following his declaration, Gozitan MP Alex Borg, an ally of Delia, also hinted he might be ready to vote against the new law.

Mosta MP Ivan Bartolo followed suit with his own declaration on Monday.

Meanwhile, in a statement, the party reiterated that there were no calls for a free vote during the three parliamentary group meetings.

The statement said that during a meeting on June 27, the group had decided to vote in favour of the new law.