Prime Minister Joseph Muscat slammed the Nationalist Party (PN) for cherry picking, so to speak, on the principle of equality when discussing gay marriage in parliament.

Last week, as parliament discussed the Marriage Equality Bill, it was made clear that the PN was not in agreement with the wording used, taking issue at the removal of ‘mother’ and ‘father’ from the text and replacing it with gender neutral descriptions such as ‘person who gives birth to’ and ‘spouse’. Muscat said that from what he has been told, the PN seeks to make amendments to the law that would place members of the LGBTIQ community into its own category, meaning there would be the more traditional aspect of mother and father, or man and woman, and homosexual couples or members of the LGBTIQ in general (which includes transgender and transsexual individuals) would be placed in a separate category altogether.

“I do not agree with this and such amendments are totally unacceptable. You either believe in the principle of equality or you do not. Equality does not have conditions tied to it, either everybody is equal or they are not. You cannot have multiple sections of society considered to be equal, and them another group that is sectioned off.

“It is not our role to judge and put people in boxes. I do not wish to be difficult however I also do not want to be in a situation where you have certain MPs who vote in favour of the Bill in its current form but say that they expected the government to accept their amendments.

Next Wednesday, Parliament will continue to discuss the nitty-gritty of the proposed Bill, continuing to delve into specific wording and adjustments to the text. This may appear to be a tedious task however such discussions have a hugely profound effect on the way a law is enforced and observed in day-to-day life.

Turning to the Maltese Presidency which has come to a close, Muscat said that he is extremely proud and grateful to have had such competent technical experts on board, and also praised members of his team who managed to deliver massive contributions through their political know-how.

“We had achievements in the economy, the Eurozone, security, migration and a hundred things. We came out looking strong among Europe, and for that I would like to thank all those involved”.

Muscat also stressed that the fruits of work carried out in the previous legislature are reaping benefits now, such as the announcement that two separate and distinct entities, the EU’s investment bank and the Council of Europe Development Bank, will together be sending upwards of €50million to Malta in order to build 1,000 units of social housing.

“Will this solve the problem of social housing? No, but it is a start and we are also tackling this issue from a policy side too, taking a two-pronged approach.

“Just because the elections are over does not mean that we will forget about policy,” he said on an interview with the PL station One radio.

He also spoke of recent statistics which showed that unemployment continued to decline and employment continued to decline throughout the month of May, when the election campaign was in full swing. Normally, the uncertainty of elections has a negative impact on the economy as people wait to make decisions until the politics of whichever country they are in settles down.

“The confidence and faith in Malta’s economy, by the people living in Malta and despite the elections, is unprecedented. During the election and now after the result, people continue to have faith that Malta will continue to develop”.