May I suggest to all those who may be thinking, or have already decided, of voting “no” to the referendum question on the introduction of the most responsible divorce law in the whole world, to ponder very seriously on the following.

In the great majority of criminal cases that are decided by our courts, if a person has been found guilty of having committed a crime for the first time, more often than not the court decides to give that criminal a chance to turn over a new leaf! Many a time, criminals are given even more than one chance!

How can anyone then, especially those who consider themselves “fervent Catholics”, be willing to deny another chance in life to all those who are suffering because their marriage, and hence their life, has been shattered?! More so if they were not to blame for their failed marriage!

Separated people, many thousands of fellow Maltese citizens, are not criminals. Many of them are honest, hard-working people who yearn to be allowed to find happiness and dignity in a new marriage, which unfortunately they didn’t find in their first marriage.

Don’t these people deserve to be treated by the Maltese people at least as much as first-time criminals are treated by our courts, when they are given another chance, sometimes more than once, to start a new life? If you truly believe in “Christian values”, as you may claim, then you cannot but agree that your vote on 28 May should be a “yes” vote because a “no” vote would be tantamount to condemning them to matrimonial slavery for life!

Eddy Privitera

MOSTA