Hunters to present petition to amend referendum law on Monday

Hunters’ lobby FKNK will be presenting MPs with a counter-petition to amend the Referenda Act on Monday, FKNK president Joe Perici Calascione said.

Although the hunters are keeping the signatures collected close to their chests, Perici Calascione insisted that the petition “enjoys the biggest amount of signatures ever presented to parliament”.

Parliamentary secretary for planning Michael Falzon has agreed to present the petition to parliament on behalf of the FKNK. The FKNK also approached the Nationalist Party who in turn informed the hunters that the issue “had yet to be discussed”.

According to Perici Calscione, the PN parliamentary group will be discussing the matter on Wednesday.

The FKNK launched the petition four months ago after the Coalition Against Spring Hunting announced it had collected over 30,000 signatures to hold a referendum to abolish spring hunting.

Malta derogates from an EU ban on spring hunting every year, but CASH has now collected close to 45,000 signatures for a petition for the referendum. The Electoral Commission is now in the process of verifying those figures.

The signatures collected by the FKNK include minors which, according to Perici Calascione, amount to 0.78% of the total signatures collected. The highest amount of signatories to the petition were aged between 16 and 28. 49 to 58-year-olds reportedly amounted to 20.10%.

The FKNK is now hoping that – as a first step – the petition is discussed in parliament. The petition requires a proposal by the government or the opposition for it to be discussed in parliament.

“At this stage we are at least hoping that the MPs discuss our petition, if not for us for other minorities. If parliament refuses to discuss it, then it is clear that the MPs are ignoring the complaints being raised by thousands of citizens,” the FKNK president said.

The hunting lobby is arguing that the abrogative referendum could be used to abuse of other minority groups.

The FKNK is also ready to take the issue before the Constitutional Court.

Addressing a press conference at the federation’s quarters in Msida, Perici Calascione took AD candidates for the EP elections Arnold Cassola and Carmel Cacopardo and PN candidate Jonathan Shaw for their position against spring hunting.

The FKNK also hit out against Gaia Foundation’s Rudolph Ragonesi who – according to the hunters – only came out against hunting when ix-Xaghra l-Hamra was passed on to the foundation by Environment Minister Leo Brincat.

The FKNK went on to accuse BirdLife Malta (BLM) “of taking advantage of isolated illegal activities in the countryside to strengthen its financial position”.

“The abrogative referendum is trying to hinder the government from implementing its electoral manifesto, despite the clear electoral mandate it enjoys,” Perici Calascione said, adding that both parties agree that hunting should be practiced as it has been.

He went on to argue that a spring hunting referendum has already taken place when Malta voted on its EU accession package, that included spring hunting.

“The referendum also tries to undermine the judgment handed down by the European Court of Justice in 2009 and it attacks the right Malta enjoys as a member state to derogate from a directive.”

The hunters insisted that the enforcement in place has resulted in drastic improvement in hunters following the law, arguing that there were “only 10 cases” of illegal hunting during the spring season.