PL deputy leader against hunting but in favour of Malta’s derogation

Labour’s deputy leader for party affairs Toni Abela is against hunting but he will not vote to ban spring hunting because he doesn’t want Malta to be “more Catholic than the Pope”.

Abela was speaking on Radju Malta’s Ghandi X’Nghid.

Asked whether he would be voting against hunting, Abela said the environment was sacrosanct for him and when he disagreed with the Ta’ Hagrat policy, he pushed the government to change the policy.

“I am against hunting, including spring hunting. But I hate it when we try to be more Catholic than the Pope,” Abela told interviewer Andrew Azzopardi.

Arguing that he had been one of those who approved Labour’s electoral programme, Abela said the PL’s promise was for a controlled and disciplined spring hunting season to open for two weeks.

“I always insisted that without discipline, the season should be suspended. And this has happened. But what I don’t like is that, because of our small size, an abrogative referendum is reachable and therefore it will take place. Meanwhile, in other European countries, they will go on hunting in spring.”

Insisting that he held no sympathy towards hunters, Abela said it was discriminatory against Maltese hunters when hunters in other EU member states could go on hunting.

“I say this out of national pride and not because I feel for the hunters,” he said.

An abrogative referendum to take place on 11 April is a result of a petition signed by Maltese citizens and presented to the Maltese authorities. The Constitutional Court then gave its go ahead.

Azzopardi argued that the referendum is taking place because the citizens called for it. Abela replied that this wouldn’t have happened in a bigger country such as Germany, while bigger countries that repeatedly breached regulations remained “untouched”.

“I would be in favour of it [banning spring hunting] if the European Union and the institutions would have the moral strength to say that hunting in spring must be banned all over Europe. I would be the first to support it.

“But I can’t stomach Malta always being at the receiving end.”

Repeatedly, Abela said he wished he could vote against hunting but he wasn’t ready to accept Malta “being more European than the European Union”. Abela said it was a Maltese trait even when Malta formed part of the British colony and “we wanted to be more British than the Brits”.

Asked whether he would be ready to join the Coalition Against Spring Hunting (CASH), Abela said no because the Labour Party had already declared it didn’t want to politicise the issue.

Marlene Farrugia is so far the only Labour MP who has declared herself in favour of banning spring hunting and will be voting as such. Abela said that even if he, as deputy leader, might not always agree with what she says yet it was important that everyone is at liberty to say what one feels