Pro-divorce movement chairperson Deborah Schembri yesterday said she was well aware of scaremongering tactics that were being used to discourage people from voting in favour of divorce. “People are telling us what is happening. Recently, I confronted a priest who was sending emails with my pictures saying I’m doing this for financial gain. I cannot understand all this scaremongering. If the ‘no’ camp’s arguments are so good, they shouldn’t engage in campaigns based on the fear factor,” she added.
With her young son by her side, Dr Schembri said that divorce does not undermine the Maltese notion of a happy family bonded forever but “we want to give people the right to remarry civilly for those whose first marriage failed”. The choice is not about happy marriages or divorce, but about divorce for those who do not have a happy marriage, because they are constrained to remain single or cohabit because their first marriage failed.
“The anti-divorce campaign focuses on the devaluation of marriage. This is wrong; separated people are still considered married. The nicest thing is a long-lasting marriage, and we should work to have more of these; however, there is still a section of people whose marriage doesn’t work and their needs should be addressed too. It is unfair that separated couples are still categorised as married,” she continued.
The Church, she said, has every right to speak about divorce. “Unlike Iran, we are a secular state, based on the idea that everyone has the right to look after his morality. We do not want divorce on religious, but on civil grounds. Maltese law should consider everybody’s needs and not just those of the Catholics.
“Divorce is not morally incorrect; in Catholic tribunals locally and abroad, they ask for divorce documentation,” she highlighted.
Asked about how the pro-divorce campaign is doing, Dr Schembri replied that although the movement does not afford to carry out any polls to measure the current public opinion about the issue, they are receiving positive feedback from people they are meeting during their promotional activities.
“People are feeling that our work is positive, however, it is more important that all those who believe in our message cast their vote on 28 May. Every ‘yes’ vote counts. Unfortunately there are too many votes which have so far remained uncollected. Do not underestimate your vote. Those in the anti-divorce campaign are running a tremendously deceiving campaign,” Dr Schembri added.
She referred to the wording used on a billboard put up by the Moviment Zwieġ bla Divorzju movement. “The wording gives the impression that a no-fault divorce is a capricious one. ‘Divorce for no reason’ does not exist, and she said the phrase was the result of a poor translation from English to Maltese of ‘No-fault divorce’. She added that the correct translation should be ‘Divorzju bla tort’ and not ‘Divorzju bla raġuni’. The anti-divorce movement’s English version of the advertisement clearly refers to ‘no-fault divorce’. Divorce is about acknowledging a state of fact, when marriage breakdown is already there due to separation. It is about giving a person the second chance to find happiness in a new marriage,” she said.
Since yesterday was Mother’s Day, Dr Schembri urged all mothers to take their time to understand the meaning of what the pro-divorce movement is proposing. With divorce, single mothers who are separated can either get married if they wish so, or close a chapter in their life.
Asked whether the emotion focused campaign reinforces negative stereotypes imposed on children, she defended the use of word ‘bgħula’ in one of the billboards because she feels that it is a reality that a section of society is facing. “Problems shouldn’t be masked by numbers of percentages. There is a huge difference between the reality and sugar coated words like ‘children born out of wedlock’ or ‘illegitimate children’ which do not make their reality go away. We are trying to explain how things really are and we want to change this reality not the labels,” she remarked.
“The only solution for a broken down marriage is reconciliation. The solution we are after is for those who wish to try getting married, and this is offered by divorce. This section of society is being coerced into cohabitation because there is no other option offered by Maltese legislation. Emphasis on our message is about giving a chance to those who wish to legalise their relationship with a marriage,” she added.
Two Maltese divorcees, who acquired their divorce abroad, shared their experience during the activity held in Paola yesterday.
Two men from the audience, who were both residents overseas, spoke how they were reborn after their divorce.
One of them spoke on the legal difficulties and conflicts with his wife which he experienced during the six-month process to acquire a divorce from the UK.
Another man, said that thanks to divorce, acquired from Australia, he could have the family which was denied to him by his first wife while proudly showing pictures of his family.