Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/846769
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 9 JULY 2017 3 News "Labour promised gay marriage in its elec- toral manifesto, but this bill goes way beyond that," he said. "No one promised us that laws which reflected and respected popular main- stays of our culture – like motherhood and fatherhood – would be changed to become gender neutral as proposed in this disgusting bill." He said one of his biggest fears was that the bill would pave the way to surrogacy and sperm donation. Vassallo acknowledged that the PN too had promised gay marriage in its manifesto. "That's all the party promised though, not all these changes to laws that would see the terminology in our legislation no longer run- ning parallel to the language used in everyday life," he said. He also revealed that he had notified Bu- suttil and other PN officials – way before the party's electoral manifesto was finalised and published – that his conscience would not al- low him to support such a bill. "I got no reaction then from Busuttil or anyone else, so I cannot understand why he is now insisting on a whip for the vote on the bill or why some people are talking of taking disciplinary action against me after Wednes- day," he said. Vassallo said that Muscat's dishonesty was in proposing one thing and then presenting another. "And the PN's mistake is that it followed Muscat's lead," he said. "This is part of what makes Muscat and Busuttil fake liberals, be- cause this legislation in fact disrespects the LGBTIQ community. Whereas I, as a Chris- tian, am a true liberal." He noted that equality minister Helena Dal- li herself, when addressing an event organ- ised by the NGO Drachma on 21 February this year, had acknowledged that the existing Civil Union Law gave gay couples the same rights as heterosexual couples, albeit not call- ing it marriage. "Our Civil Union Law is already on par with marriage," Minister Dalli had said back then. "All the rights are there and it's just different in name, so we're changing that. We're work- ing on it." Vassallo said that, in light of this, he could not understand how no one else spoke out against Muscat's deceit and duplicity when he presented the bill as worded. "Why did none of these so-called political commentators say anything? Why did even the so-called independent media not point out the deceit? I will tell you why. It's because everyone is distracted or bought." Vassallo said he was not against any indi- vidual loving another, but insisted he was re- sponsible as a politician – even more so than as a Christian – to safeguard society from any adverse effects of any proposed legislation. As for the PN itself, he said that many con- servatives were not recognising themselves in the party today. "Not only is our party practising fake liber- alism, it is also totalitarian, in that it is dictat- ing the thoughts and beliefs that its members should embrace," he said. When pressed, Vassallo would not confirm that – come Wednesday's vote – he would be voting against the bill and against the will of his party and its leader. "My adversity to this bill rose out of a real- ity built around a spiritual experience, and it is imperative that it remain so," he said. "To take it beyond that would be turning it into an expression of self-pride." The MP insisted that he had a lot of respect for Busuttil personally, and that he believed that respect was reciprocated. "I was brought up to respect authority, and I have always sought to do just that," Vassallo said. "But I must now use the next few days to determine whether my faith and religious be- liefs should supercede any respect I have for the party leadership's authority," Vassallo is first to point out that he would not want to carry on this fight from outside the party, and he has no intention of going rogue or leaving the PN parliamentary group. "I want to change the PN and help it regain the dignity and liberty it has lost," he said. "But make no mistake, my value is within the party." Vassallo points out he also has no leader- ship ambitions and is not doing anything to gain attention or favour. "I just want to be sure to give God what is God's and give Busuttil what is his, no more, no less," he said. "Now I just have three days to decide if I would be committing political suicide if I vote against the bill – thus denying people who embrace my same beliefs a voice in par- liament – or whether I should place my faith and religion above any other authority." pcocks@mediatoday.com.mt the oppression' Conservative Nationalist MP Edwin Vassallo is insisting that Simon Busuttil give MPs a free vote on gay marriage and to stop 'suppressing' their right to religious belief and freedom of expression MIRIAM DALLI KRISTY Debono, now the ninth district's most popular MP, is considering throwing her hat in the ring for the Nationalist Party's deputy lead- ership role, although a final decision will only be taken after the leadership election. Debono told MaltaToday she was seriously considering the role of deputy leader for par- liamentary affairs, insisting her next move will depend on the wishes and plans of the future PN leader. "I see myself more as deputy leader for parlia- mentary affairs, but no decision will be taken before discussing it with the future leader… party hierarchy is very important to me," Debono told MaltaToday when contacted. "People are coming to me all the time and there's a lot of support which has made me seri- ously consider the possibility of running. I want to keep on building on the contribution I gave to the party in the past," she said. Debono however also said the deputy leader- ship role shouldn't be treated as "a consolation prize" by MPs who could run for the party lead- ership and instead don't make it. In the past, Mario de Marco lost out on the party leadership but was later uncontested in his election to deputy leader for parliamentary affairs. Outgoing deputy leader for party affairs Beppe Fenech Adami has also not ruled out a run for the deputy leadership for parliamentary affairs. Debono, 35, returned to the House with a remarkable 4,029 first preference votes, in a remarkable showing in her second electoral outing. An analysis of the district's vote shows that one out of every three PN votes went to Debono. At a time where Maltese politics craves for women in key roles, Debono wants to be seen as an MP who can bridge with moderates and floating voters. She described supporters' calls urging her to contest the deputy leadership as "overwhelming". The deputy leadership elections will only take place once the PN elects its leader, a role for which only Gozitan MP Chris Said and lawyer Adrian Delia have so far confirmed their inten- tion to run. Many are expecting MP Claudio Grech to announce his intention to run at the eleventh hour. Kristy Debono 'seriously considering' PN deputy leadership