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8 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 3 JUNE 2018 NEWS It's only been seven years since divorce became law Much water has passed under the bridge of civil liberties since a majority voted for divorce on 28 May 2011 but whether this will include abortion over the next seven years is another matter altogether. KURT SANSONE reports IT passed by unnoticed but last week marked the day, seven years ago, when a majority of voters in Malta approved the introduction of divorce in a refer- endum. Until then Malta had been one of only two countries worldwide where getting a divorce was not possible. But after a gruelling campaign, on 28 May 2011, 53.2% voted in favour of di- vorce legislation. Parliament approved the law in July and it came into force on 1 October that year. Since then, the Maltese courts have granted 2,328 divorces. Figures tabled in Parliament last March showed that since October 2011, the highest num- ber of divorces were registered in 2012 when the courts approved 450 cases. The numbers have since dropped to 325 last year. The figures dispel the fearmonger- ing by those who opposed the intro- duction of divorce in the referendum campaign, some of who believed it would open the floodgates for mar- riage breakdowns. It is widely acknowledged that the referendum result was a watershed moment in the history of civil rights in Malta, more so because the Catholic Church had actively supported the No campaign. Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, who at the time was Opposition leader, had taken a strong personal stand in favour of divorce. Today, in a book commem- orating his 10 years at the Labour Par- ty's helm, Muscat describes the divorce referendum as "a moment of mental liberation". "The divorce referendum… not only changed minds, but the rules of the game," Muscat says, adding that it was an important milestone that made it possible for the changes that came af- terwards. But rather than a rupture in mental- ity, Godfrey Baldacchino, professor of sociology at the University of Malta, argues that the divorce campaign, re- sult and aftermath revealed that Mal- tese society was "open to change". "Society harboured a residue of tol- erance that few would have imagined. This tolerance, coupled by a socially liberal political agenda advanced by the Labour Party government, has now ushered in quite progressive legislation impacting on the LGBTIQ communi- ty, and in such a short time," Baldac- chino says. He likens the referendum on divorce, which was called by then prime min- ister Lawrence Gonzi to try and skirt around a private member's bill pre- sented by his backbencher Jeffrey Pul- licino Orlando, to the Brexit referen- dum in the UK. "Like David Cameron's gamble-gone- awry with the Brexit referendum of 2016, prime minister Gonzi's decision to have a divorce referendum in 2011 did not match the expectations of its main political instigator," Baldacchino says. Gonzi was against divorce and in Par- liament he voted against the law at all stages despite the referendum result. It is no secret that Gonzi's stand against divorce was for him, also a question of faith. The Church had of- ficially backed the No campaign but voters rejected all that. Baldacchino says despite the Catho- lic Church looming large in civil soci- ety, its ability to determine behaviour is challenged and not necessarily on moral grounds. "We would all like to have, and live in happy families and this results in practical decisions that address spe- cific and particular situations on the ground where drastic measures, such as divorce, need to be considered, and after other potential remedies may have failed," Baldacchino says. This is possibly the same rationale that helped usher in the introduction of civil unions for same-sex couples in 2014, followed by marriage equality last year. But Baldacchino is less certain that the same drive that saw the introduc- tion of previously unimaginable civil liberties, will also translate into sup- port for abortion. "It is hard to fathom," he says when asked whether he sees the introduction of abortion possible in the next seven years. But he does not exclude that a very cautious abortion law with tight condi- tions could come up for a vote. However, Baldacchino does draw an important difference between the clamour for divorce and the much more muted voices for abortion. "Presumably, some or many of those seeking to terminate pregnancies have been doing so overseas. So, unlike those couples which were stuck together in a marriage gone horribly wrong, and for whom divorce was a policy demand; there may be no pent-up pressure on government to legislate on abortion," Baldacchino says. A MaltaToday survey earlier this year found an overwhelming majority against abortion, with opposition cut- ting across all age groups, political al- legiance and regions. Divorce over the years A brief history of the long divorce debate and how it appeared sporadically on the political agenda until 2010 1975: A Labour government introduces civil marriage but not divorce. Maltese courts can recognise a divorce obtained abroad. 1984: The Labour Party's women's section approves a motion for the introduction of divorce but stops short of presenting it to the annual general conference following pressure from the party's leadership. 1989: The newly set-up party Alternattiva Demokratika makes divorce a central plank of its political programme and includes the proposal in every electoral manifesto since then. 1996: Former Labour MP Joe Brincat, temporarily estranged from his party, presents a private member's bill for the introduction of divorce. The bill is never discussed. 1998: The Commission for the Future of the Family set up by Prime Minister Alfred Sant proposes the introduction of divorce through a parliamentary free-vote. No bill is ever presented as the government faces internal pressure. 2008: Labour's newly-elected leader Joseph Muscat says he will take it on himself to introduce a Private Member's bill on divorce once his party is in government. 2010: Nationalist MP Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando presents a private member's bill introducing divorce based on the Irish model. 2011: A consultative referendum approves the introduction of divorce by 53%. "The divorce referendum… not only changed minds, but the rules of the game" Divorce campaigner and later Labour MP Deborah Schembri A subtle Labour affair... in 2011, Labour candidates Marlene Mizzi and Nikita Zammit Alamango, and PN councillor Cyrus Engerer (later to become a Labour candidate), with Nationalist MP Jeffrey Pullicino - also later a Labour candidate - and Deborah Schembri, who became a Labour minister