Muscat dispels campaign claims: ‘Had I campaigned, the result would have been different’

Prime Minister warns hunters against committing illegalities • Video by Ray Attard

Prime Minister Joseph Muscat denied that he or the Labour Party had campaigned in favour of the hunting lobby in the run-up to the spring hunting referendum.

“If I had campaigned, the result would have been different,” Muscat told a press conference after the referendum ruled that spring hunting will be retained. “Two radio statements can hardly be said to amount to campaigning.”

“The Labour Party had focused fully on the local council elections and did not ring up a single person who didn’t live in a locality that was up for re-election.”

He also denied that Animal Rights parliamentary secretary Roderick Galdes, who was present at the counting hall today, had campaigned in favour of the hunting lobby.

“Galdes stated his own personal opinion when he said that he will vote Yes,” Muscat said. “I don’t see any problem with that. After all, Simon Busuttil and Eddie Fenech Adami also said that they will vote Yes.”

He said that hunters now bear a greater responsibility to report cases of illegal hunting.

“Hunting organisations must realize that the situation has changed and they have one final chance to get it right,” Muscat said. “Thanks to a small minority of illegal hunters, the legal hunters came extremely close to losing the spring hunting season once and for all.

When the spring hunting season re-opens, it will not be back to usual for them. The legal hunters have a responsibility to report all cases of law-breaking hunters.”

He reminded hunters that the spring hunting season will open on Tuesday and that any hunting today or tomorrow will be treated as illegal. He noted that the trend was that most illegal hunters were youths, and warned that the Cabinet has already started discussing the possibility of harshening fines against illegal hunters.

He pointed out that the victory for the Yes camp was a close one, with a margin of some 4,000 votes, or 51%.

“This sends a clear message to the government that the environment must be placed higher on our agenda, a message that I understand,” Muscat said.

He also noted that around 49% of the electorate voted No, despite himself and Opposition leader Simon Busuttil having declared their intentions to vote Yes.

“This sends a message that civil society is taking life independent of politicians, which is positive,” Muscat said.

He called for a more open dialogue between hunters and environmentalists.

“The Maltese public is split in two on this issue, probably more so than on anythingthey have ever been," Muscat said. "The hunters must understand that they have come closer than ever before to losing spring hunting for good, while the environmentalists must understand that the majority of the public wants control and not abolition.”