VALLETTA, Malta: Maltese lawmakers have approved a law allowing citizens of this heavily Catholic Mediterranean island to divorce in their own country.
Malta was the only EU nation without divorce legislation. Up to now, Maltese citizens could only obtain divorce abroad. In the past 30 years, 785 Maltese couples divorced this way, with numbers gradually rising from seven in 1981 to 47 in 2010.
The law takes effect in October, after Malta’s president signs it.
Parliament passed the law yesterday with 52 votes in favour, 11 against and five abstentions, after nearly 53 percent of voters said “yes” to divorce legislation in a referendum on May 28. The vote was a blow to the ruling Nationalist Party, which had opposed divorce ahead of the referendum. – Sapa-AP