Since Saviour Balzan seems very concerned about my stand against divorce, I think it’s time we clarify a few points. I know that you are admonishing me out of sincerity, since even my own children keep telling me to lay back and relax about the issue, but you must have realised that I am not the “give up under media bashing” type.
My views on divorce were made public before the general elections. Whenever I was I asked I answered clearly without hesitation whatsoever. That I am no St Rita everyone knows, because I made sure that even my private life was made completely public before I returned to Maltese politics.
In spite of being a sinner dead set against divorce, over 2,000 people made me their first choice in the last general elections: the first election I contested after my marriage break-up.
To me, forward-looking politicians are those who speak out for what they perceive is the common good, even if their political career is threatened in the process. By crusading in favour of family support and against divorce, I feel that I’m doing just that, because our families need sustaining not undermining.
You seem strong in your belief that divorce will allay the plight of “women who cannot afford leaving an abusive husband” because under the present system they are “without a legal solution that can guarantee them a livelihood should they leave the family home”.
What makes you think that divorce will not cost money, and that people in such a predicament will have financial support on obtaining a coveted divorce? As in separations, settlements have to be agreed, lawyers have to be paid, and precious time wasted while the life clock is ticking away. For men, women and children who go through this emotional hell, it is not divorce that will heal them, but psychological and often financial guidance in the run-up to the contract-signing, whether it’s a separation or divorce writ.
After that, rich or poor have to find their own path to emotional healing and restoration of self-esteem. It is not a divorce which gives you the ability to start afresh, but the ability to heal thyself and bury the bad memories.
Hasty remarriages while in rebound will only lead to more divorces and more heartache.
When families break down innocent children find themselves in emotional crises of unlimited magnitude. So although divorce is not the cause of separations which are happening anyway, its introduction would weaken the concept of permanence in marriage from its conception by rendering it legally soluble from the outset. Couples in difficulty might revert to divorce as the easier solution rather than trying harder to reconcile their differences.
Therefore while I thank you for your sincere concern and in spite of being no St Rita, I intend to keep harping about a national policy to support families prior to their inception, during their conception, and in their path through life.
As for dubbing me a hypocrite, pray tell me where I have sought to deceive anyone in your eyes? If you had to ask someone about the ill effects of drug abuse, would the testimony of a clean social worker be more credible to you than that of a drug abuser? I am no hypocrite. I want people to learn from what I have painfully learned myself and nothing is going to derail me from striving for what I perceive is the common good. As for crossing the floor to rejoin the Nationalists, there is no chance for that. My Labour Party is all for open, healthy debate associated with forward looking politics. I can’t say the same for the PN representatives, who seem to be all muzzled about the issue!

Marlene Pullicino MP (MLP)
Qrendi

PRINT THIS ARTICLE