[WATCH] Opposition in favour of divorce law reform, Bernard Grech says

Opposition leader Bernard Grech has called out the Prime Minister Robert Abela for trying to catch him out when proposing changes to the divorce law. 

“When I had expressed opposition against the divorce law, I had been against the way it was drawn up, and now government is amending it,” he said. 

Interviewed on party radio station NET FM, the Nationalist leader said Robert Abela tried to drive a wedge between him and his MPs, calling him shallow for doing so. 

“How can I be against divorce, when I have one finger on people’s pulse?” he remarked. 

The PN leader said that he had already voiced his view that the period of time couples should live apart in order to qualify for divorce needed to be amended. 

“The PM said that he wanted to remove it completely but now he only reduced it. He was too busy trying to see if I will get caught in the fishhook that he forgot to add the bait first, and then he realised he cannot remove the term completely,” Grech said. 

Grech said having the opposition and government in agreement that the bill must be amended is a positive thing, and said the party will be discussing the issue internally in order to draw up its positon. 

“The delay in processes with parents who cannot see their children for weeks, months even years and vice versa must be looked at. This is time lost that can never be recovered. The time for them to pay for damages will eventually come but this time is forever lost,” he said. 

On the reshuffle, Grech said that while renewal is a good thing, changes in such a short period of time shows government’s admittance that it was incompetent. 

He made reference to former parliamentary secretary Silvio Parnis’ ousting. 

“There were moments when he was almost making light of people’s emotions and experiences which then lead to the criticism and later, he was moved out of government,” he said. 

On the vaccine, Grech said the PM is speaking of the vaccine as if it will fix everything, but insisted on the importance of following health measures. 

“We have to keep our obligations in mind, and continue to follow regulation,” he said.