News | Sunday, 29 March 2009

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I’m not ‘hunting’ for votes – John Attard Montalto

Raphael Vassallo
Labour MEP John Attard Montalto denied that his series of meetings with hunters – the third of which will take place this evening in Zebbug – is aimed at attracting their vote ahead of next June’s election, insisting his only intention is to explain to them their legal status, in his capacity as Malta’s only member of the parliamentary committee on sustainable hunting.
“I have already met members of the hunting community on two other occasions, one in Gozo and the other in Rabat (Malta),” he confirmed yesterday. “In those meetings I tried to explain to them that some of their traditional pastimes could still be salvaged within the context of the Birds Directive.
“I also feel it would be a mistake to corner the hunters, at a time when they are feeling aggrieved. It is important that hunters are given the right information; that they are not excluded from dialogue. Personally, I believe an acceptable compromise can still be reached; after all, even environmentalists argue that some form of hunting can still be allowed, if carried out in a sustainable way.”
Attard Montalto attracted criticism earlier this month for adding his signature to hunters’ federation FKNK’s petition entitled “Equal, Human & Citizen Rights in the EU”, which he will himself present to the European Parliament next Tuesday.
BirdLife Malta branded the initiative an “electoral stunt”, claiming Attard Montalto was more interested in the votes of an estimated 20,000-strong lobby, than in equality of human rights in Europe.
Questions have also been raised about the timing and efficacy of the hunters’ petition: among others by Nationalist MP Simon Busuttil, who yesterday denied rumours that he was in any way involved with the FKNK initiative. “No, I am not presenting a joint petition with John Attard Montalto on hunting, and this is the first time that I heard about this,” he said.
“A petition does not in any way stop or affect judicial proceedings in Court,” Busuttil added, with reference to the ongoing infringement procedures against Malta in the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg.
But Attard Montalto remains undeterred, hinting that concessions could still be obtained if the hunters’ case was presented properly. As an example of practices which could be salvaged, the Labour MP cited trapping: outlawed for seven species of songbird, but not for turtle dove and quail, which could still be legally trapped if certain conditions are met.
These conditions include a captive breeding programme and a register of all trapping sites; but the deadline has already expired after the three-year derogation period came to an end on 31 December 2008.

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