Noel Grima
A clear commitment made by the Nationalist Party prior to the 1998 general election – to regularise the situation of couples living together – has been allowed to fall by the wayside by the party that won the 5 September 1998, and the April 2003 elections.
As a result, so many couples who cohabit today – whose numbers, given the rise in failed marriages, must have increased and multiplied since 1998 – are still living in a mainly unregulated legal framework.
The PN electoral manifesto in 1998 stated: “Without prejudice to the rights and duties that derive from a valid marriage, a law shall establish the duties and rights of men and women who come together in cohabitation. In particular, the interests of the children who are the result of such a relationship will be protected. These must not suffer unnecessarily due to circumstances out of their control. The law will protect every person from any exploitation.”
Even so, the PN proposal had created a political storm: while Deputy party leader Lawrence Gonzi told a press conference on 13 August 1998 that a PN government would deal with “anomalies” such as people in cohabitation and people in marriage separations, he also emphasised that divorce was not a solution.
However, the next day, Labour leader Alfred Sant accused the PN with a lack of morality in attempting to regulate cohabitation and pointed out that at least divorce gave couples a chance to recreate a family.
In a series of articles entitled “No, Minister”, Joe Brincat said the two main political parties have different policies regarding marriage, family, divorce and cohabitation and argued that sometimes divorce is needed to protect women from men who shun their responsibilities.
Prime Minister Eddie Fenech Adami, who party insiders say was one of those who pushed most to get the party to commit itself on this issue, told a press conference on 19 August that cohabitation goes against his moral values. He admitted however that he had not consulted the church prior to the clause being included in the party’s manifesto because, as he put it, it is the State that has to take care of social problems.
Speaking on RTK radio on 25 August, Dr Sant criticised Dr Fenech Adami for being against divorce but advocating the legalisation of cohabitation.
In an interview with Il-Gens, the Catholic weekly, Dr Fenech Adami said the PN wanted to discourage cohabitation but promised to treat it seriously where it exists.
The subject does not seem to have been an issue in the 2003 election, even though it was mentioned in the MLP manifesto.
Seven years down the line, a legislature and three quarters of one later, the clear commitment in favour of legislation regularising cohabitation does not seem to have been implemented, even though the number of cohabiting couples must have risen, not gone down. Sundry amendments in the civil code and in other updates in the laws do not qualify as implementation of the clear commitment in the 1998 manifesto.