Yes campaign cost hunters at least €110,000, FKNK meets PM ahead of season opening

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The Yes campaign cost hunters at least €110,000 but figures will be made public once all expenses have been accounted for and audited, the CEO of hunting federation FKNK Lino Farrugia said.

Flanked by FKNK President Joe Perici Calascione, legal representative Kathleen Grima and other members of the Yes campaign, Farrugia said the figure was still preliminary.

This morning, ahead of tomorrow’s opening of the spring hunting season, FKNK representatives held a meeting with Prime Minister Joseph Muscat.

Addressing a press conference at their offices in Msida, the hunting federation warned hunters to abide by the law, saying that “no illegalities will be tolerated”.

“This is the moment of truth for the hunters, who carry a huge responsibility towards the electorate who said ‘yes’ to spring hunting. The FKNK will not tolerate any abuses. No hunter who breaches the law will find refuge here,” Perici Calascione said.

Urging the media to “be positive” and “to collaborate” with the hunters, Perici Calascione said hunters had nothing but to lose in this referendum.

“We are pleased to see that the Maltese chose unity over division, voting in favour of balance and tolerance,” he said, adding that “the No vote only enjoys the support of 36% of the Maltese”, when the Yes votes and the abstentions are put together.

The FKNK said it will be meeting with the Police Commissioner this week to draft stronger mechanisms to fight illegal hunting. The hunting lobby is suggesting that hunters expelled from the FKNK should not be given a new licence after switching to a separate federation.

Perici Calascione said anyone witnessing illegalities should report them to the police and not resort “to provocation”.

“Perhaps the measures that were in place until today were fragile, but we now need to collaborate with the police to see how we can strengthen them. Hunters have a lot to lose and they will not cover for abusive hunters,” he insisted.

Perici Calascione also said that he couldn’t understand what Prime Minister Joseph Muscat had meant by saying that this was the hunters’ “last chance”.

“The hunting season cannot be closed for one illegality. Let’s solidify the good we have. The hunters are all saying that they will not allow irresponsible people to destroy their chance at spring hunting,” Perici Calascione said.

The FKNK will be meeting with members of parliament to once again push parliament to discuss a petition presented by the hunters which was never brought up for discussion. The petition with over 100,000 signatures called on MPs “to safeguard minorities”.

According to Lino Farrugia, the law allowing an abrogative referendum “could be used too easily”.

“The number of signatures required for the petition is small and there is no time limit during which these signatures can be collected … you could collect over 40,000 signatures in 10 years and it would still be valid. There are certain things that can be improved,” Farrugia said.

Adding that hunting was “a way of living”, the CEO said “no one should endure what we suffered”.

Asked whether the Labour Party had indirectly helped the Yes vote, Perici Calascione said the leaders of both parties had given their members “a free hand” while they themselves had declared a Yes vote.

“There were a lot of people who supported us, just as there were certain people who didn’t support us. But there was no tacit agreement with the Labour Party,” he said.

Lino Farrugia went on to add that the No camp enjoyed the support of Archbishop Charles Scicluna and the Jesuits.