Equality Minister Helena Dalli cannot be taken seriously after stating that the Maltese and Gozitan people did not realise what the PL had in mind when the party used the phrase 'equality' in the 2013 electoral manifesto "to deceive", the PN said in a statement.
The PN was referring to a video where the minister, during a conference, said that the people did not realise what the PL had in mind when using the term equality in its electoral manifesto.
The PN said that the minister, by her own admission, laughed in people's faces. The PN asked what Prime Minister Joseph Muscat's true intentions are behind the removal of the protection for the unborn child.
"After an article by Newsbook revealed, with evidence, that Dalli and government laughed in people's faces when they hid their intentions in the 2013 electoral manifest, doubts regarding their true intentions on government's refusal to keep a clause in the domestic violence bill protecting the unborn child grow."
The PN said that Dalli, in the Parliamentary discussion regarding domestic violence, kept insisting that the protection of the unborn child be removed. "Even after the Opposition insisted and drew her attention, the minister did not accept this protection to be included in the bill."
The minster also already declared that she is ready to discuss, after appeals were made for a public debate on the introduction of abortion. "With this discussion, she is again hiding behind the excuse of equality to push forward a discussion on abortion. Recent surveys show that 97% of Maltese do not agree with abortion, and so there is no rise for its introduction."
In reply, the Labour Party said that a campaign to discredit Dalli is underway at a time when she is piloting a law against domestic violence.
In this way, the PN is showing disrespect to victims and trying to put forward the idea that the law is being changed to legalise abortion, which is not the case, the PL said.