The Nationalist Party will only take a position on the government's proposal for a reform to introduce voluntary assisted euthanasia in Malta once the bill is tabled in Parliament, The Malta Independent has been told.

The eight-week long public consultation period for the government's proposed reform ended on Wednesday.

Plenty of organisations and members of the public have made submissions on the proposal as part of the public consultation process - but absent among them was Malta's Opposition party.  The party has not issued any official stance on the proposal, and appears to have not made any submissions in the public consultation.

Asked to confirm whether this is case, a spokesperson for the party said that the PN "has been listening to different points of view on the matter."

"The Government has already stated that its final proposal will probably be different than that outlined in the consultation document. PN's Parliamentary Group will take a position once the bill is debated in Parliament, which will be when the proposed law is published," the party's spokesperson told The Malta Independent.

The proposed reform was opened for public consultation in May.  Under the proposal, euthanasia must be on an entirely voluntary basis and only coming from the patients themselves, and only if they are in a good enough mental state to take that decision.

In order to be eligible, a patient must be aged over 18, suffer from an incurable, terminal illness that means the patients has only up to six months left to live, and must have exhausted all other available treatments and therapeutic services.

No person would be authorised to make such a decision on a patient's behalf, and even presenting euthanasia as an option to a patient would be a criminal offence.

The topic is a sensitive one: those against the reform have said that the government should strengthen palliative care instead, while those in favour have said that it would provide dignity to people battling cruel illnesses at the end of their lives.

The PN meanwhile has neglected to take an official stance on the matter.  The PN's statute outline's the party's philosophy as a pro-life organisation, stating that the party is committed to ensuring "everyone grows and enjoys wellbeing, from conception to the last breath."

The party's parliamentary group met to discuss the reform in mid-May, soon after it had been published and it is understood that there were differing views on the subject. 

Outgoing PN leader Bernard Grech said on party media at the time - prior to his resignation - that internal discussions were ongoing, but said that the party will always be in favour of life. "We have always been in favour of life and the dignity of the person," Grech had said, but he stopped short of taking a firm position.