This week is the final week of campaigning pending the referendum poll which will be held on Saturday. The vote is the culmination of years of campaigning by environmentalists and members of the general public who have been sickened by indiscriminate shooting of birds who come to rest in Malta on their migration towards Africa for breeding season.

Year after year, hunters have taken over more of the countryside, to the point that people sometimes do not dare to venture down certain pathways on public land, for fear of being abused by shotgun-toting hunters who literally make the land their own and expropriate it for their own means.

In truth, the campaign has been a boring one and not much has moved in terms of who believes who and what they believe to be the right way forward. Come what may, this referendum result was decided upon a long time ago. Those who have been swayed in opinion will be few and far between because the truth of it all is that many people made their decision long ago – they are either for, or against Spring hunting.

This newspaper joined forces with Malta’s other English language newspapers to take a stance against Spring Hunting. Hunters have tried to portray themselves as guardians of the environment, but the truth is that sustainable hunting as a hobby and a means to supplement what was brought to the table to feed the family has morphed and mutated into a bloodsport.

There are still hunters out there who do practice the old ways, but it has become clear over the years, it is merely a trophy blood sport. People do not eat eagles, harriers and storks. Any proof that is required is to just go to any hunter’s house and look at the stuffed birds on display. If you ate it, how on earth did you preserve the carcass and put it on display. It is complete nonsense. Malta is still a young democracy which is still coming to terms with determining its own destiny. The two main political parties have appeased the hunting lobby for decades.

The PN and the PL have repeatedly ignored the issue of spring hunting and have always danced to the tune of the 13,000-odd strong lobby that has held them both at ransom. Neither party had the courage to face up to the plate and take the bull by the horns. It was the people of Malta who did so by taking to the streets to collect signatures to campaign for a referendum to abolish the practice of spring hunting.

It was people power that got the ball rolling and now it will take people power to get that vote which will give so much power back to each and every person in the country. No longer will you feel intimidated, no longer will the political parties have to bend to the will of the hunting lobby, no longer will you have to stumble across dead birds, be showered with lead pellets or have to deal with violent and abuse hunters who chase you off public land. But that will only happen if you go and pick up your voting document and make the effort to cast a No vote this weekend.

It’s not only the hunting issue which is at stake here, but also the power of the people to change and overturn an unjust situation which favours those who want to take over the countryside and blast or trap birds for their own pleasure. Vote No.