It’s now or never: hunters, birders accuse Gonzi of ‘hiding behind Commission’ on spring hunting
Raphael Vassallo
Hunters want it now, birders want it never: but despite these apparently irreconcilable positions on the issue of spring hunting, both the federation of hunters’ and trappers associations (FKNK) and BirdLife Malta agree on at least one point: that Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi is hiding behind the European Commission to avoid taking any clear decision on the controversial issue of spring hunting.
Speaking recently on TVM’s Disset, Gonzi reiterated an earlier claim that his government was in some form of ‘discussion’ with the European Commission in order to establish how a spring season might be opened without falling foul of the European Wild Birds Directive.
But this argument has plainly failed to convince either BirdLife Malta or FKNK.
“That is absolutely false,” Birdlife’s executive director Tolga Temuge said in an interview with MaltaToday in February, soon after Gonzi first hinted at talks with the Commission. “If anyone should know that it is not even possible to negotiate an agreement for hunting in the spring season, that person is Dr Gonzi himself. He should know more than anyone that it is not possible to cut a deal with the Commission from beforehand. That’s not how the Commission works...”
on his part, FKNK secretary-general Lino Farrugia was equally scathing.
“(Dr Gonzi) has no need to go to the Commission,” he told this newspaper. “The Commission cannot formally advise him on anything. It can only get involved after the derogation has been applied...”
Farrugia also took the opportunity to correct me on an inaccuracy regarding the legal framework for the announcement on hunting season dates.
“What you wrote last month about the 28-day limit was a load of rubbish,” he said amicably. “The Legal Notice you quoted only applies to the dates recommended by the Ornis Committee. The Prime Minister has the authority to announce the season even one day before. He could open the season today, if he wanted to...”
In fact, the perfect opportunity to announce a final decision materialised just yesterday, with the publication of the biweekly Government Gazette – traditionally, the place where hunting season dates are announced. However, no announcement was made in yesterday’s issue, though there is still the chance that the Legal Notice will be published in this Friday’s edition.
Failing that, a spokesman for the Office of the Prime Minister yesterday told this newspaper that the announcement could always be made in an extraordinary edition... though the same official could not confirm whether any such decision has to date been taken.
Either way, Farrugia is not hopeful that Gonzi will deliver on what he feels is a clear political commitment to the hunting community.
“Yes, we are receiving a lot of phone-calls from our members at the moment, but I always tell them the same thing: on our part, we have done our job as a federation. The ball is now in the Prime Minister’s court. He alone can take this decision...”
Farrugia was dismissive when asked if the FKNK had any fall-back strategy in the event that this year’s season fails to materialise.
“No, we don’t have any strategy. But all I can say is that if the Prime Minister thinks he is eternal, that’s his business...”
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