BirdLife accuses PN of abdicating its duties as an opposition party over FKNK meeting

In an open letter addressed to PN leader Adrian Delia, BLM accused the party of reaching conclusions before checking the facts.

BirdLife accused the PN of
BirdLife accused the PN of "reaching conclusions before checking the facts" after the party withdrew from a meeting with the organisation planned for Monday

BirdLife Malta has written a stinging response to the PN after it withdrew from a meeting with the party planned for Monday, accusing it of abdicating its duties as an opposition party under the rule of law.

In an open letter addressed to PN leader Adrian Delia, BLM accused the party of reaching conclusions before checking the facts.

Delia had taken to Facebook to report a meeting with the FKNK which he had participated in, saying he was “satisfied that no steps would be taken against thousands of hunters who didn’t break any laws,” and urging that “the good should not be punished with the bad.”

It is this position which the NGO took umbrage at, BLM President Daryl Grima accusing Delia of rushing to take a stand before veryifying the facts. “You chose not to see the facts. These facts are that the licences and special hunting permits were issued by Gozo minister Clint Camilleri, who did not have the legitimacy or legal power to do so.”

Camilleri is also the minister responsible for the Wild Birds Regulation Unit (WBRU), “a section dominated by the interests of hunters and trappers when by law it falls under the responsibility of the Environment Minister Aaron Farrugia.” 

According to BLM, this meant that the licences were issued ultra vires (in a manner beyond the scope of his powers) and as a consequence, whoever went out to hunt this season had done so without a legally valid licence.

“Here it appears that the PN is agreeing with the breach and abuse of the law instead of serving as the parliamentary guardian of the observance of the law.”

Grima added that by opening the spring hunting season, the government was letting hunters go out while everyone else was being asked to stay indoors due to the COVID-19 crisis. The police lacked the resources to enforce the relative law, he added, closing his letter by saying that the PN “could choose to be a populist party like the PL is but when it does so it is abdicating and escaping its obligations as a party which cherishes the rule of law and environmental protection.”