How to put divorce out of reach... forever

Two surveys carried out by MaltaToday in the space of a week reveal the extent to which Maltese parliamentarians – in particular, those on the Opposition benches – are detached from their own voters.
On Sunday, a survey conducted by this newspaper revealed how a clear majority of Labour supporters (58.3%) approve of their leader’s proposal for the introduction of divorce legislation. Among PN voters, the percentage drops to 34.2%, and on a national level the entire population is only marginally (50.2%) opposed to divorce.
And yet, today’s front page shows how Labour parliamentarians are themselves divided on the same issue: of the few who gave us a clear answer, the number of those who will vote against Muscat’s divorce bill would certainly be enough to derail the entire motion... especially if the Nationalist party closes ranks and denies its members a free vote.
It is as though Joseph Muscat, with his surprise proposal for a private member’s bill on divorce, had aimed to win over disgruntled liberal voters from the traditionally conservative Nationalist ranks... but instead, he succeeded in firing a rocket-propelled grenade right into the very heart of his own parliamentary group: exposing internal divisions within the party, at a time when the MLP desperately needed to project an image of unity.
Perhaps this is just as well, for beyond all the rhetoric and posturing – and despite its leader’s valiant attempts to keep the whole structure from disintegrating before our very eyes – the Malta Labour Party remains very much an enigma wrapped inside a conundrum, and may have needed an eye-opener such as this to finally understand that it is suffering from an identity crisis.
On the face of things, Joseph Muscat has galvanised enough support, both within and without the party structures, to prevent the split that many of us thought was inevitable, after the disastrous outcome of the last election. But his finest efforts have not been enough to disguise the fact that the MLP remains a veritable hotch-potch of conflicting ideologies and warring factions; and unlike the similarly divided PN, it seems that Labour lacks the necessary cynicism to put aside personal differences for the sake of achieving a common goal. Small wonder it has spent the past 21 years languishing in opposition.
From this perspective, Joseph Muscat’s decision to make such a radical proposal at such a sensitive time suddenly appears at best naive. Coming to the helm of a party still visibly at odds with itself on so many issues, the very last thing Muscat can afford to do now is suffer a personal humiliating defeat at the hands of his own party. And yet, it would appear that this is precisely what he has set himself up for, with his poorly thought-out proposal for a private member’s bill on divorce.
Is it possible that he would not have tested the waters before taking such a foolhardy risk? Judging by the results of out tentative survey this week, the answer is evidently “yes”.
Apart from spelling out trouble ahead for the charismatic young Labour leader, the consequences for the entire country could likewise be severe. This newspaper has since its inception argued in favour of divorce legislation, which would bring about a long-overdue social justice for a growing, disenfranchised segment of the population. This is a serious issue and needs to be tackled in a serious and level-headed way. Proposing a bill which is almost certainly doomed to oblivion – with the result that the entire issue would be needlessly delayed for years, if not decades – is quite frankly not a serious way of doing things, and the victims of this failure are likely to be the many couples forced into permanent cohabitation as a result of the unhappy status quo.
In all honesty, one expected a better start to the rebirth of Labour.

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