Three days before the spring hunting season was meant to come to an end, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat announced through a tweet from Azerbaijan that he was ordering the premature closing of the season after a series of illegalities.
The shooting of a bird that fell into a schoolyard while students were on break was the last if a number of incidents that took place during the season, which had opened just three days after the people had voted “yes” – with a slim majority – in a referendum on the issue.
A hunter responsible for the incident, Kirsten Mifsud, was taken to court and sentenced to one year in prison and fined €5,000.
But while the news went down as a treat for some, for others the Prime Minister’s decision was wrong.
Pierre Borg, a former coach of the national waterpolo team, completely disagrees with the decision taken by Dr Muscat, arguing that slight traits of dictatorship are present and even going so far as comparing him to Vladmir Putin.
“The right to vote is sacrosanct and the Prime Minister has no right to abuse his power to change that. The hunting season opened because of the will of the majority, even if the yes camp had won by just one vote.
“The decision was taken too fast. You should never take a decision in a moment of crisis. Such attitude concerns me. Two wrongs do not make a right. I am not in any way justifying illegalities. What is wrong is wrong, and culprits should be disciplined. But going against the will of the majority is also wrong. I can understand that Dr Muscat has weight to carry, but this is unacceptable,” Mr Borg insisted.
“Hunters served as a scapegoat. I only hope that other members of society do not have to go through similar situations. Opening the season on 14 April was already nothing but a big farce, why skip a day following the referendum result?” he asked.
Mr Borg added that had the referendum question specified that the hunting season would be stopped if illegalities persisted, then he would not have a word to say against Dr Muscat’s decision.
“The decision did not come a minute too soon”
On the other side of the coin, SHout ambassador, actress and writer, Jo Caruana says that the PM’s decision was very fair, and did not come a minute too soon.
She stresses that that the ‘yes’ vote won by an extremely slim majority and based on a campaign that stressed that the laws concerning hunting would be adhered to, and that hunters had learnt from past mistakes and would now have new respect for the rules.
“However, within the first two days of the season opening this year, it became clear that some hunters had merely been lip-synching along with the campaign spin and actually had no intention of changing their ways. So they have continued to break the law, and I believe they will continue to do so in the future,” she says, adding that this is simply not acceptable.
The 'No' vote lost the election by just 2,000 votes, which means that more than 49% of the voting population is against spring hunting, and that figure, Ms Caruana says, can’t be ignored. The 50.4% of people who did vote 'Yes', simultaneously and automatically voted in favour of the rules and regulations that surround spring hunting.
“Surely if those rules are not adhered to, then their vote is not being respected either? Of course, I would personally love to see all future seasons closed, but I am realistic. I do, however, believe that any illegalities should instantly and automatically lead to the close of the season - no questions asked.”