Hunters move closer to Labour after Gonzi’s referendum answer

There is no plan for a referendum on spring hunting in the PN's electoral programme, but Lawrence Gonzi's honest reply to whether he would hold such a referendum when asked by Times editor Herman Grech on Tuesday, has riled the hunters' lobby FKNK and the St Hubert Hunters who claim the prime minister wants to abolish spring hunting.

"By not objecting to that possibility, Gonzi is contradicting the signed guarantees Eddie Fenech Adami, Simon Busuttil as head of the Malta-EU Information Centre, and other PN exponents gave to hunters," spokesperson Mark Mifsud Bonnici said, referring to the quick-fire 'yes or no' questions made to both party leaders during the Times debate. Joseph Muscat replied no to a referendum on spring hunting.

Under the EU's Birds Directive, spring hunting is banned but Malta has derogated from this law every year since accession in 2004.

"In just one word, Gonzi unambiguously showed he would abolish hunting and trapping because he was ready to hold a referendum to kill spring hunting," the FKNK said.

"This statement has shattered Lawrence Gonzi's mask and goes against all democratic norms and breaches the right of any minority from defending its legal rights," secretary-general Lino Farrugia said.

A clear sense of unease was evident in the FKNK statement, as opposition to spring hunting in Malta grows. "A minority's rights cannot be removed by a majority simply because of its numbers... minority rights are protected at law and by the EU. The divorce referendum did not remove any persons' rights but put us on a level playing field with other EU citizens - and that's how our rights should be ensured," Farrugia said.

Farrugia claimed Gonzi's 'declaration' suggested this was the first drastic step to "deny hunters the right given unto them by the ECJ to derogate from EU law... an absolute denial to the rights of 10,000 hunters and trappers, themselves EU citizens."

Farrugia dubbed the prime minister's simple 'yes' to a question on whether he would allow a referendum as "an attack on hunters" that had been part of "the PN's policy's unilateral declaration" of what it will do once in government.

In a letter he sent to PN deputy leader Simon Busuttil, Mifsud Bonnici said that Gonzi's answer had put paid to claims that the PN had stuck its neck out for hunters when it defended the derogation from the Birds Directive's ban on spring hunting, in the European Court of Justice.

"I remind you of your statement on the derogation and the PN's political mandate to apply derogations as a commitment endorsed by a referendum: 'during negotiations Malta also made it clear that it would be using a derogation for Spring hunting limited to just two species. The results of these negotiations were approved in a referendum.'

"The government should therefore continue to feel politically bound by the commitments endorsed in the referendum. We appeal to those who claim that the government should renege on these commitments to appreciate that this is a mandate and as such it should be respected."

Mifsud Bonnici also asked Busuttil whether the PN was "intent on retracting the last remaining shreds" of its promise to hunters, and whether Gonzi's declaration was official and applicable to the rights of all minority groups.

"Through Gonzi's tenure, we have endured nothing but inexplicable manipulation or the abolition of what primarily were PN written assurances. This last uncalled-for declaration directed at presumed political advantage depicts a blatant two-faced attitude, the effect of which will undoubtedly be reflected in the outcome of the forthcoming general elections," Mifsud Bonnici said.