Democracy, not backroom deals on hunting says AD

Prime Minister Joseph Muscat was yesterday reported to not have ruled out the possibility of changing the abrogative referendum law, to block a referendum on spring hunting, as has been proposed by the hunters’ federation FKNK.

The spring hunting season closes today. Asked whether his government was actually considering changing the law as the hunters had demanded, Muscat said he would wait for a petition by the hunters asking for a change in the law and we will see.

“However, this is not a question of law. I think that the Leader of the Opposition is abstaining again on this issue. My position is clearly in favour of spring hunting.”

Green party Alternattiva Demokratika said that it was “crystal clear” that both Labour and the PN prefer backroom deals when dealing with the hunting lobby.

“The Labour Party has positioned itself clearly in favour of spring hunting and against the basic principles of biodiversity. The Nationalist Party is still trying to have a foot on each side of the fence. It remains as spineless as ever,” AD deputy chairperson Carmel Cacopardo.

“Backroom deals are anything but democratic. They are a negation of democracy itself. The procedures to call an abrogative referendum are, in the current state of affairs the only democratic tool left to contest the spring hunting season.”

The petition to make a referendum on spring hunting impossible, as proposed by the FKNK, was described by Cacopardo an affront to the democratic process.

“In the coming days or maybe weeks we will know whether Labour will give the public a reply on whether it is a democratic government or not. Its position on the proposal to block the legitimate and democratic curtail the referendum process will be such a reply. The issue at stake is much more than spring hunting: it is either the democratic process or backroom deals.”

A petition signed by over 45,000 voters is being inspected by the Electoral Commission before it is presented in court for the proposal of an abrogative referendum to be held on the matter of spring hunting.

Spring hunting is banned by EU law, but Malta applies a derogation from the law for a limited spring hunting to hunt Turtle Dove and Quail. But critics claim the season opens up the chance for poaching and the hunting of illegal quarry like birds of prey and the trapping of songbirds.