In many of the interviews he has given and in many of his speeches he has delivered since taking over as Malta Labour Party leader, Joseph Muscat has adopted a cautious approach.

He has preferred to say that he will be discussing matters within the internal structures of the party before making public pronouncements on policies, and for this he must be given credit. There have been political leaders who hijacked ideas and then their party had no other option but to follow suit, independently of whether the rest agreed or not.

But there was one thing on which Dr Muscat felt he had to make things clear right from the start. In an interview he gave to The Malta Independent, excerpts of which were published on Saturday while the full text was printed on Monday, Dr Muscat said that as prime minister he would propose a bill to introduce divorce.

That must be considered as a bold statement. Divorce has been a hot issue in Malta for many years. Every now and again, the subject comes up but politicians, especially political leaders, have more or less always taken a stand against its introduction, firmly believing that it would upset the great majority of the Maltese, conservative as they are by nature.

Politicians preferred to keep their distance from even hinting they are in favour of divorce – at least in their public statements, although privately they might have agreed – for fear that they, or their party, would lose support.

Now we have a new leader of the second largest political party saying that, when he is elected prime minister, he would be proposing the introduction of divorce after the issue would have been debated in society.

What’s more, he has already made it clear that when the bill is brought up in Parliament, he would allow MLP MPs a free vote. Being a matter of conscience, rather than one of policy, Dr Muscat said he would leave it up to individual MPs whether to vote yes or no. Dr Muscat’s colleagues would certainly appreciate this line of thinking.

Whether Dr Muscat’s statement will spark yet another debate on the issue of divorce – when it is clear that there are other, perhaps more important topics, that the MLP would want to public to deal with in the coming months – is yet to be seen.

But what Dr Muscat said confirms his progressive intentions. Upon being elected, Dr Muscat immediately stated that he would like to put forward progressive ideas, and he did not take long to come up with the first one.

In the same interview, Dr Muscat spoke about other civic issues that he will tackle when the MLP is in government. While emphasising that abortion is definitely not on the agenda, he said that the MLP would look into the situation of cohabiting couples, including siblings, and in particular the rights of children born out of wedlock.

The way society has evolved and will continue to develop are such that one expects the number of people who do not form part of what are known as traditional families to increase. A cursory look at statistics shows that the number of children born to unmarried couples and the number of marriage separation cases is on the rise year after year, and although successive governments have taken steps to provide for such circumstances, much more needs to be done to see to their needs.

Yet, although all these issues no doubt have their importance, especially to the individuals concerned, it is divorce that will no doubt take so much media space when Dr Muscat fulfils his promise.