The position adopted by the Nationalist Party on the introduction of divorce legislation is another instance where political expedience takes precedence over the national interest.

Even if Malta remains one of the two countries in the world not having a domestic divorce mechanism, the divorce issue has significant personal moral implications on individuals standing on either side of our ‘for’ and ‘against’ camps.

There is much to be said on the way this thorny issue should be decided in the interests of society. Prime Minister Gonzi had promised us a consultative referendum not least because the divorce issue did not feature in the electoral manifesto of the ruling party.

The Nationalist Party has since adopted a so-called position, declaring an anti-divorce stance that can be officially ignored by both its parliamentarians and members.

What political position is this? How can a party declare a position against divorce and yet ask its members to vote according to their personal choice? Does the PN really believe the so-called position it adopted? A matter of conviction or convenience?

One may argue that the Nationalist Party fell behind the sensible Labour position to let each individual form an opinion based on one’s own conscience. What was shocking was the devious way in which the Nationalist Party is attempting to take away public opinion from the equation through a convoluted legal somersault.

We have seen this government spend most of this legislature dealing with governance problems that keep popping up at each turn as a result of chronic government fatigue. The woes of this government are taking a significant toll on society as sensible governance is playing second fiddle to the continuous efforts of the Nationalist Party to retain power at a considerable financial economic and social cost to society.

The sorry way in which the Nationalist Party is playing politics, in the narrow partisan sense of the word, with such a delicate issue as that of divorce is another case in point.

It is more than evident that the Nationalist Party in government is Malta’s singular liability.

Dr Zrinzo Azzopardi is president of the Labour Party