PN deputy leader for party affairs Beppe Fenech Adami and MP Claudio Grech have strongly denied allegations that if the PN decided to vote in favour of the Civil Unions’ Bill, which was linked to the right for gay couples to apply to adopt a child, the PN leader would have faced a number of resignations, including theirs. The talk of the town is that despite the PN executive having been in favour of the civil unions’ legislation, it was only when the parliamentary group met to discuss on how it would be voting that its leader, Simon Busuttil, had to accept that the party would abstain.
Last week, the Civil Unions’ Bill came into force after it was approved in parliament. A number of PN MPs had reservations on the child adoption clause. The Opposition argued that the bill should have never included the right for gay couples to be able to adopt since it was too early in the day for this to happen and that more studies were required before its implementation, in the interests of the child.
Dr Fenech Adami told this media house that he was contacted about rumours of resignation threats by It-Torca. TMIS has also published a story about divisions within the party on the issue. But when confronted with the suggestion that he would have resigned, It-Torca went on to publish the story without including his comments. This media house, however, is publishing them.
The headline of the Torca report read: ‘The PN’s executive was in favour of voting for the Civil Union as it had been proposed, but a conservative faction of MPs were against it’.
Asked if he would have resigned had the PN decided to vote in favour, Dr Fenech Adami replied: “The PN’s decision was always to abstain when we met to discuss the issue”. It-Torca said that sources informed it that Dr Fenech Adami, and even more so Mr Grech, threatened that they would resign if the PN voted for the bill.
Meanwhile, Mr Grech, told this newspaper that the story being referred to is “purely speculative” and “merely intended to portray an inexistent split in the PN’s Parliamentary Group”. “When I was asked by the journalist, I simply replied that I had nothing to add to what the PN had stated on the group’s decision and that this was now a closed matter, something which I am reiterating once again with your newspaper,” he said.
He added: “While I strongly feel that MPs should not disclose what is discussed in the group, to avoid further baseless speculation, I will limit myself to flatly and specifically deny that I have ever told the group that if any MP voted in a particular way or other I would resign.
“Like most of the other MPs in the group, I set out my views on the proposed legislation and I did so as thoroughly, respectfully and solidly as I could, as it is my duty to do.
“Within the limited timeframe, I shared my views and listened to those of others since this is how the dynamics of our group work,” he said, adding that in give and take, such dynamics work well. “God forbid we end up in a situation where we cannot even discuss different views on proposed legislation in confidence in the Parliamentary Group, due to the fear of being marginalised.
“I shall not delve into the views, both mine and that of others, which were expressed in the group meetings and I reiterate that it is inconceivable that an MP discloses any of that since that erodes the level of trust which is necessary to allow free internal discussion prior to reaching a common position.
“The easiest thing to do is to ‘disown’ the group’s position to maintain general popularity on all fronts, something which is not my style. “The fact of the matter is that the abstention decision was a unanimous and final one and was amply explained by the Leader of the Opposition in Parliament,” Mr Grech said.