‘Technical team’ from Labour in meetings with hunting lobby FKNK

Labour leader Joseph Muscat has confirmed that a "technical team" from his party will be hammering out a policy proposal for hunters and trappers, that includes lifting or reviewing the moratorium on new licences for trappers.

Muscat said Labour and the FKNK would be announcing the last-minute policy in the coming days, after months of meetings between Labour candidates like Sandro Craus, and shadow minister Michael Falzon - himself a keen hunter.

"The only promises we'll keep are those written in black and white on our manifesto... people saying otherwise must shoulder the responsibility of what they are saying," Muscat said in interview published today in MaltaToday on Sunday.

Malta's hunting lobby FKNK have accused Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi of having in favour of a referendum of spring hunting, claiming the PN wants to abolish spring hunting. The PN has denied the accusation.

Nationalist deputy leader Simon Busuttil has warned hunters that Labour's allowances will lead to the European Commission clamping down on a derogation from the Birds Directive, which bans hunting in spring.

Hunters met Labour candidate Sandro Craus at the Nigret nightclub in Rabat on Friday this week, in one of a series of meetings held between members of the hunting community and Labour candidates.

Conservationists BirdLife this week denounced the "lack of political will" to address wildlife crimes, and accused the PN and Labour of lacking concrete proposals for tackling illegal hunting and trapping in their electoral manifestos. "Politicians talk tough, but their words have not translated into a marked improvement on the ground. It seems that they prefer to join the hunting lobby in pretending the problem does not exist," BirdLife said.

On the other hand, the FKNK have accused Lawrence Gonzi's decision not to oppose a referendum - which in Malta can take place on a popular petition carrying signatures from 10% of the electorate - on spring hunting.

"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.

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.

Malta was taken to the European Court of Justice by the European Commission for incorrectly applying a derogation from the Birds Directive - the Court however declared that Malta could open a limited season for hunting in spring under specific conditions. BirdLife insists that these conditions are not met when Malta derogates from the law by announcing the dates for the spring season.