The president of BirdLife Malta, Darryl Grima, has slammed the Prime Minister's proposal to grant constitutional safeguards to all traditional pastimes, labelling this move as a "nonsensical political gimmick".

Grima said that this move may be motivated by government wanting to appease big lobbying groups, such as hunters and trappers - similarly to what the government is already doing with developers through the proposed and heavily scrutinised planning bills (Bills 143 and 144).

On Sunday, 12 October 2025, Prime Minister Robert Abela announced that the government is looking into how to safeguard Malta's "traditions and hobbies" in the Constitution. He said that this includes feasts, sports, and all hobbies, including spring hunting.

Speaking to The Malta Independent, Grima said it was very ironic for Abela to announce this intention just after the government shot down a PN private member's bill to make living in a clean and sustainable environment a constitutional right.

The government voted against this idea, arguing that, with the way it was written, the Opposition's proposal could unleash great legal and economic uncertainty. Hours before the plenary vote, the government also published a Green Paper outlining "Malta's vision and commitment to environmental protection, anchored in the country's Constitution, international agreements, and national legislation".

Abela stated that had it been enacted, the constitutional right on the environment as proposed by PN MP Darren Carabott, could have seen foreigners shut down feasts and hunting through the courts. PM Abela noted that had the environment been made a constitutional right, a foreign worker could wake up one fine morning annoyed by fireworks the night prior, head to the courts, and give the judiciary no option but to stop feasts from taking place. Critics have described Abela's position as absurd.

Referencing this situation, BirdLife Malta's president was critical of the government's decision to not enshrine the environment into the Constitution of Malta. Grima told this newsroom that if one had to analyse the people's greatest concerns, overdevelopment and the environment would be the top two. He said that this is very significant as both issues are part and parcel to each other.

Grima stated that the planning bills, if enacted, will destroy the country, leaving the average citizen to suffer the consequences. Condemning Bills 143 and 144, Grima said that these were proposed to protect the devil's pact between the government and the country's barons.

While discussing the potential implications behind what could have motivated the intention to constitutionally safeguard pastimes and sports, Grima asked whether this was put forward as Malta gears up towards a general election. He emphasised that if re-election is the aim here, then the government should prioritise the environment ahead of all other issues, as it is "very clear" that this is what the people want.

"If the government wants to win the next general election, it must focus on making the environment a priority," Grima said.

One of the government's criticisms of Carabott's private member's bill was that its wording was too vague, leaving much of it open to interpretation. In a similar shade, Grima had many questions on how providing constitutional safeguards to traditional hobbies would work in reality.

"Will this give me as a citizen the right to play hopscotch out in the streets, as we used to in the past?" Grima asked.

Continuing this line of thought, the BirdLife Malta president also asked if ramblers will be allowed to walk everywhere or if off-roaders will be allowed to off-road onto any land they like.

He pondered what motivated this decision, and deemed constitutional safeguards for hobbies as unnecessary, quipping that "with all due respect to chess, who was calling for it to be protected in our Constitution?"

Abela had emphasised the importance of pastimes being practised "responsibly" and in accordance with the country's laws. Grima scoffed at this and observed that practising a hobby "responsibly" is very vague and could mean anything.

The eNGO president told this newsroom that if these constitutional safeguards are being introduced to permanently avoid another spring hunting referendum from being held, then this would be "impinging on our rights as citizens". Grima said that the people have a right to a referendum, especially since it is the only means by which citizens can directly participate in the decision-making process.

When asked about this move in relation to the already prevalent tensions between Malta and the European Union, due to spring hunting and finch trapping going against the EU's Birds Directive, Grima responded that clearly, "the Prime Minister does not care about directives".

BirdLife Malta is in the middle of an ongoing court case that is challenging the legality of the spring hunting season. The eNGO wants the Maltese law courts to declare spring hunting illegal.