Maltese say yes to divorce

Voters in the overwhelmingly Catholic Mediterranean state of Malta have voted in favour of legalising divorce, Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi announced on Sunday after a weekend referendum. Gonzi, who campaigned against the introduction of divorce in the last European country where it is illegal, said it was now up the Mediterranean archipelago's parliament to legalise the dissolution of marriage. "This is not the result that I wished for, but the will of the people has to be respected and parliament should enact a law for the introduction of divorce," the conservative prime minister said. Malta is one of only two countries in the world -- the Philippines is the other -- that bans divorce. Chile was the last country to legalise divorce in 2004 after overwhelming public pressure. Saturday's non-binding referendum asked the island's 306,000 mainly Catholic voters whether parliament should introduce a new law that would allow couples to obtain a divorce after four years of separation. Legal separation is widespread in the European Union's smallest member state, but there are many legal obstacles to re-marrying. "The yes vote has won and we urge parliamentarians to vote a bill for the introduction of divorce," said lawyer Deborah Schembri, who led the 'yes' campaign. With ballots still being counted and an official result not expected until later Sunday, Schembri said the yes camp had won around 54 percent of the vote based on a sample from different constituencies. Arthur Galea Salomone, spokesman for the anti-divorce campaign, admitted "the people's choice was clear, they opted for the introduction of divorce." Divorce legislation is likely to squeeze through parliament as Gonzi's ruling Nationalist Party has the slimmest of majorities -- one seat -- and analysts have said at least one of his MPs had backed the yes campaign. The Roman Catholic Church, which looms large over the archipelago where 95 percent of the population claim the faith, did not campaign officially in the referendum. However, Malta's Archbishop Paul Cremona had warned churchgoers in a letter they face a choice between building or destroying family values. Marriages can only be annulled by the Catholic Church's Ecclesiastical Tribunal in a complex and rare procedure that takes around eight years. The only exception to the divorce ban is for Maltese married to foreign nationals or Maltese who are permanent residents abroad.