43,000 signatures against spring hunting currently being verified

The Coalition for the Abolition of Spring this morning announced that it was continuing the process of verifying the 43,000 signatures it had gathered to call for a referendum to abolish spring hunting on the Maltese Islands.

"We would like to thank all of the people who have helped to gather signatures for the petition and reassure all those who wants the referendum to take place, that we are working hard to ensure it happens as soon as it is feasible," Coalition Spokesman Christian Debono said.

Debono explained that the next stage in the process was to submit the petition to the Electoral Commission.

"We want to make sure that once the petition has been submitted to the Electoral Commission, everything goes smoothly.  That is why we are determined to verify every signature," he said.

Debono said that there were some people, even now, who were continuing to collect signatures and said that it was likely that the number collected will exceed 44,000.

"It's not too late for anyone to sign the petition... before it's submitted," he said. "Every extra signature counts."

Petition forms can be downloaded from the BirdLife Malta website.