WUNRN

http://www.wunrn.com

 

MALTA PROCEEDS FOR LEGAL SEPARATION & DIVORCE

 

Full Article - European Women's Lobby - EWL

http://www.womenlobby.org/spip.php?article2079

[Brussels, 26 July 2011] Malta, one of the few countries in the world where divorce is still banned, is on its way to significant change. Two months after a historical referendum, the will of the Maltese to introduce the right to divorce has been translated into legislation. With 52 votes in favour, 11 against and 5 abstentions, the Maltese Parliament passed a law on Monday to allow legal separation. Although the Prime Minister previously agreed to respect the will of the majority, Lawrence Gonzi and his Nationalist Party voted against the legislation. Despite the resistance, the legislation has been approved by President George Abela and is expected to take effect in October..........

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http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2011/05/29/malta-divorce-legalized.html

 

MALTA REFERENDUM VOTES TO LEGALIZE DIVORCE

The Associated Press - May 29, 2011 

Malta, a tiny, staunchly Catholic Mediterranean island, has voted in favour of legalizing divorce, according to the results of a referendum.

The island nation is the last remaining European Union country that bans divorce. But what had been billed as a historic referendum has ushered in a "new Malta," according to a leading politician.

Sunday's final results of the polling the day before showed that 52.67 per cent of people voted in favour of divorce, according to the Times of Malta.

Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi, who had campaigned against divorce, said parliament would respect the will of the people in the nonbinding referendum and work on legislation to legalize divorce.

"Even though the result is not what I wished for, now it is our duty to see that the will of the majority is respected," Gonzi said in a televised speech reported by the newspaper.

The issue has been hotly debated and allegiances went beyond= party lines.

"This is a conservative society, but Maltese still live like Europeans. This regularizes their lives," said analyst Saviour Balzan, whose newspaper, Malta Today, had campaigned in favour of the legalization of divorce. "It gives a new lifeline to hundreds of people."

Balzan also said the "Yes" victory makes Malta more European.

"Divorce is not an obligation for a member state, but it brings us closer to Europe," he told The Associated Press. "Europe is not just directives and legal impositions, it's also about culture.

Malta, which also bans abortion, has long Catholic traditions and the church's influence on the nation's 400,000 citizens is still significant. Some 95 per cent of the population calls itself Roman Catholic. Pope Benedict XVI visited the island last year.

The Catholic Church does not permit divorce but does allow annulments.

Joseph Muscat, the pro-divorce leader of the opposition Labor Party, said that a new Malta had been born, the Times of Malta reported. The head of the Divorce Movement, Deborah Schembri, said the committee would remain active until divorce legislation was enacted.

"Now the people have spoken, let us give them what they want," she was quoted as saying by the newspaper.

Turnout stood at around 72 per cent — a high figure by Western standards but among the lowest in Maltese voting. By contrast, turnout in the 2003 referendum on whether to join the EU stood at almost 91 per cent and at the last general election at over 93 per cent.