PN leader Simon Busuttil said today that the PN is not a communist party and therefore, since the referendum is of the people and not of politicians, the PN will be leaving it in the hands of the people to decide whether spring hunting should be banned.

He said he would personally be voting yes to retain spring hunting since he was personally involved in the negotiations with the EU tied to Malta's derogation on spring hunting. He said however that this does not mean he is in favour of hunters abusing.

"Those who abuse of the system will not be given shelter by the PN," he said.

"Spring hunting can take place in Malta because it is the PN who had negotiated with the EU, leading to a derogation which controls and limits spring hunting.

"We negotiated the derogation with the EU because when we showed interest to join the EU we made sure we would leave nobody out, even hunters.

"It was vital that Malta is not denied the opportunity to join the EU, after an anti-EU campaign fuelled by the PL, and this is also why we decided to negotiate an agreement on hunting with the EU," he said.

"Under the PN, nobody raised the issue of a referendum on spring hunting because there existed a fair balance at the time," he said.

Dr Busuttil said it is vital that when one gives his word, he or she must stick to it.

He said it did not have to come to this stage, referring to the referendum. "It came to this simply because Prime Minister Joseph Muscat breached the derogation to win votes, meaning that things got out of hand.

"Hunters felt that because there was the Labour Party in government, they could go ahead do what they liked, leading to certain abuses. The referendum is a result of Dr Muscat's breaches," Dr Busuttil said.

When asked by this newsroom if the PN had a survey in hand which showed that the hunting lobby would win the referendum, and this is why he took such a position, or simply because the local council elections were being held in localities associated with hunters, Dr Busuttil said it is far too early for any survey to predict who would win the referendum.

Questioned whether PN MPs would be left to vote freely, Dr Busuttil replied: "Definitely."

PL reacts, says PN leader 'weak'

The PN leader cannot be taken seriously when he says that it was him who had fought for the derogation but took a week to decide what position he would be taking on spring hunting, the Labour Party said in a statement issued soon after the PN news conference.

This, the PL, said, confirms that Simon Busuttil is weak.