Three days after this newspaper’s Sunday sister revealed that the government does not plan to regularise the position of cohabiting couples if either one or both had been previously married, the government has retained its original position – that of keeping its cards close to its chest to continue misleading the public on its real intentions.

The government is banking on the confusion that it is creating in half-sentences and half-replies to make the people believe that the rights of cohabiting couples will be formalised with or without legislation on divorce.

Legal experts said that the government is keeping people in the dark and giving answers that are deceptive as they are being led to hope that they will be able to register their relationship.

But the facts as revealed by The Malta Independent on Sunday show otherwise – the government has no intention of giving rights to cohabiting couples as this would be the closest one could get to legalising bigamy.

TMIS reported that the draft cohabitation law that is being discussed within the government structures will only formalise relationships between brothers and sisters, other relatives, and people of the same sex living under one roof.

A legal report presented to Parliament’s Social Affairs Committee specifically lays down that “in the absence of a law that provides for divorce in Malta, couples in which one or both partners are married or who have separated from their partners should not be entitled to register their relationship.”

Legal experts said that the absence of a divorce law will make it impossible for a relationship, with one or both partners having been previously married to someone else, to be formalised.

They explained that people who are separated are still legally married to their partner, as their marriage has not been dissolved via divorce, and therefore any formalisation of their relationship with another partner would effectively mean that they would be legally linked to two partners at the same time.

The experts said that such provisions would effectively open up the possibility to people of the same sex to register their relationship, although they will only be able to do so as flat-mates, and not as a couple in a sexual bond. Brothers and sisters, as well as other relatives, will also be catered for in the cohabitation law.

A ‘No’ victory in the divorce referendum will effectively deal a double blow to separated persons: They will not be able to divorce, and they will not be in a position to regularise any new relationship they entered into after their separation.

The only way that cohabiting couples would be able to regularise their position is if divorce is introduced into the statute books. This would possibly open the way for provisions to be included in the cohabitation law, meaning that people would then have a choice – either get divorced and remarry, or divorce and cohabit.

The story published in The Malta Independent on Sunday was picked up by Bondiplus last Monday, and the replies given by the government to the programme further confirm that the government is unwilling to give clear answers.

The legal experts said that the government, which has expressed itself against divorce, is trying to lead the people into thinking that cohabiting couples will have their rights seen to in a cohabitation law that is expected to be passed through Parliament by the end of the year. It fails to put things as they are – that people who have been married and are now cohabiting with another partner will not be allowed to register their relationship.

Bondiplus was only given comments in writing to answers it requested.

Edwin Vassallo, chairman of Parliament’s Social Affairs Committee, told Bondiplus that “a cohabitation law is necessary both if there is divorce legislation or not. The cohabitation law should not be enacted instead of divorce legislation. It should be enacted to reduce abuse and protect that person who can be considered as weak in a relationship between two persons. If divorce is introduced, a cohabitation law is necessary because it is probable that Malta, like other countries, will experience a surge in cohabitation.”

Mr Vassallo fails to refer to who will be entitled to be protected through the cohabitation law. He does not say that people who have already been married cannot register their relationship, the legal experts pointed out.

A government spokesman, to a specific question related to cohabiting couples, again went round in circles. “The government programme that was approved by Parliament at the beginning of this term says that there should be a law that regularises the rights and duties of persons who decide to live together, and to protect the most vulnerable. This law will not bring marriage and such relationships on an equal level, and therefore it has nothing to do with marriage and divorce. A law that establishes the rights and duties of those living together will come into force during this term.”

Here we have no mention of the word “cohabitation”, and the absence of clarifications or denials make it abundantly clear that the government does not plan to regularise the position of people who had previously been married and are now living with someone else – simply because it cannot do so and this would be in conflict with the marriage laws, the legal experts said.

When the government announced it was working on a cohabitation law, the impression it gave was that it would include cohabiting couples. But it is now evident that the people were misled into thinking this would happen, because the cohabitation Bill will not include provisions for people who were previously married.