Labour MEP secures precious endorsement from hunters

Labour MEP Joseph Cuschieri, who said he will donate half his MEP’s salary if re-elected, has been officially endorsed by the hunting lobby.

The FKNK today said that “useful and cordial meetings” were held with the head of the Labour delegation, whom it described as having show “attention, effort and interest in traditional socio-cultural Maltese traditions of hunting and trapping during the outgoing Parliament legislation.”

The hunting lobby said the FKNK is supporting Cuschieri’s candidature.

“Should he be re-elected, he agreed to consult FKNK’s specialist services in any matter that may regard biodiversity, rural activities, sustainable hunting and trapping, environment conservation, wild birds’ migration, birds’ rearing and captive-breeding and the re-introduction into the wild of bird species.”

Cuschieri, who decided to contest the MEP elections just days after announcing he would not contest in protest at the lack of attention he had received from the Labour Party, could be expected to curry favour from Alfred Sant voters who given him their second preference.

The former Labour prime minister today also said that if elected MEP he would secure for Maltese hunters and trappers “treatment that was fully equal and equivalent to that accorded to other EU citizens in their home country.”

Sant said that Malta had to respect EU laws on hunting, but also pointed out that hunters believed that these rules were being applied to Malta more stringently than in the rest of the EU.

“Many derogations to the rules were allowed in other EU member states but denied to Malta. The present government is trying to obtain clarifications of the existing rules that would allow more space within which hunters and trappers could exercise their activities legally. I have asked to receive copies of all rules that seemed to give better treatment to other countries.”