The government has chosen to remain silent on the contents of the cohabitation Bill, which it said will be enacted before the end of the year. Questions by this media house have remained unanswered and, each time journalists have tried to broach the subject in recent weeks, all they got were statements that did not divulge anything.

The Prime Minister has refused calls to publish the Bill, saying that it was not the appropriate time to do so. It is evident that the government does not want to speak about the subject, saying that it wanted to deal with different issues separately, no matter how interlinked some people think them to be.

This newspaper’s Sunday sister last Sunday however published excerpts of a report that was presented to Parliament’s Social Affairs Committee, and which make it clear that the government has no intention of recognising relationships between couples who are living together, but who were married to someone else before.

The report lays down that “couples in which one or both partners are married (to someone else) or who have separated from their partners should not be entitled to register their relationship” when the cohabitation law comes into force. What it is saying here is that the poġġuti tag will not be removed when the cohabitation Bill becomes law.

This comes as a big blow to couples who have been waiting for this cohabitation law to regularise their position in order to get rights of which they have been deprived so far.

This is because the government’s idea of a cohabitation law will not include giving any rights to a man and woman, who were previously married to third persons, and who are not related but living together, maybe with children from a previous marriage or with children born to them out of wedlock.

The law will only cover brothers and sisters, or other relatives, living under the same roof, and people of the same sex.

These, however, will not be able to register their ‘relationship’, as this would be tantamount to a form of acceptance of same-sex bonds, which would be a rather ironic stand, given the conservative view taken by this government on other matters. People in a gay or lesbian relationship will only be able to register themselves as flat-mates, which would effectively mean turning a blind eye to their sexual bond so as not to seemingly acknowledge it in a legal way.

The cohabitation law cannot contemplate regularising relationships between a man and woman as these would go against the existing marriage laws, and in more ways than one come close to legalising bigamy. People who may have abandoned their marriage are still legally linked to their spouse, and formalising a second relationship would be equivalent to being legally linked to two partners at the same time.

It is a real pity that cohabiting couples have been taken for a ride for so long by the government. It has always given the impression that the cohabitation Bill will finally enable them to live in a more stable relationship, one that gives them rights over their partner if he or she dies or walks out.

The government’s procrastination in giving out details on the cohabitation Bill – which The Malta Independent on Sunday revealed – will only serve to make these couples, and all those with an open mind, angrier for having been led by the nose for so long.