Pullicino Orlando, divorce law promoter, gets his divorce

Nationalist MP Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando, the promoter of Malta's divorce law, has been granted the dissolution of his marriage to his estranged wife, Marlene Pullicino, a Labour MP.

Marlene Pullicino, who reverts to her maiden surname of Farrugia, said she had no objection to the divorce. Pullicino had in the past opposed the introduction of divorce, but later changed her mind as her husband started campaigning for the law.

Pullicino Orlando shook the political establishment earlier this year with his private member's bill on divorce, which later was taken up by Labour MP Evarist Bartolo, and culminated in a divorce referendum campaign that pitched secularists against Church exponents.

Divorce legislation came into force on October 1 after the referendum was held in May.

The law grants divorce to couples that have been separated or living apart for the past four years in the last five years.