Malta votes for divorce

Final results yesterday of the polling the day before showed that 52.67 percent of people voted in favour of divorce. Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi, who had campaigned against the change, said parliament would respect the will of the people in the nonbinding referendum and work on legislation to legalize divorce.

Turnout for the referendum stood at around 72 percent which although a high figure by Western standards is low in Maltese voting.

By contrast, turnout in the 2003 referendum on whether to join the EU stood at almost 91 percent and at the last general election at over 93 percent.

Malta, which is the last remaining country in Europe to ban divorce also bans abortion.

Of the 400 thousand people who live on the island nation 95 per cent are Catholic. Listen to report