“Welcome to the 21st century!” That was how one Facebook user responded to the news that Malta, the only country in the E.U. that still prohibits divorce, had voted to allow married couples to officially split. In a country reported to be 95% Catholic, the results of the May 28 referendum took many on both sides of the issue by surprise. But for supporters, the vote is a sign that the island nation, located 55 miles south of Sicily, is ready to modernize not merely its social laws but also its democracy.
Divorce has been banned in Malta since the country’s independence in 1964. In the run-up to Saturday’s referendum — the first on the issue — both sides engaged in intense, sometimes bitter, campaigning. Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi fiercely opposed the measure, stating on one occasion, “If we truly want to safeguard the family, I won’t bring divorce to Malta.” The church was even more fervent in its opposition, with clergy using their Sunday sermons to preach against the proposal.
Perhaps as a result of those tactics, some polls conducted prior to the referendum predicted that the measure would fail by a slight margin. But when the results were released on Sunday, after a 75% turnout, the measure passed 53% to 46%. “In Malta, where most elections are decided by 1 or 2%, that’s a huge margin,” says Martin Scicluna, director of the Valletta-based Today Public Policy Institute. “I was really surprised,” says Alison Bezzina, a writer based on the city of Birkirkara who supports the bill. “On Saturday we saw all these images [on TV] of nuns taking people from retirement homes to the polls so they could vote. I was sure that was going to tilt the vote against legalization.”
Until now, Maltese in failed marriages have had limited options. They can get divorced in another country and have the rupture registered later in Malta; they can file for a legal separation that, if granted, will nonetheless prevent them from remarrying. Or they can petition a church tribunal to annul the marriage.
That was the option that Eric, a 37-year-old working in the entertainment industry, chose. Eric
