The secretary of the Federation for Hunting and Trapping, Mr Lino Farrugia (The Sunday Times, March 28), has seen red because of Arnold Cassola's role in raising the question of Malta's implementation of the Birds Directive in the European Parliament.

Mr Farrugia might find this hard to stomach, but the fact remains that during the vote on the Monitoring Report concerning our country a majority of members in the European Parliament voted, in a very unequivocal manner, to call on the Maltese government to transpose fully the Birds Directive.

The Green Group in the Euro-pean Parliament, in close consultation with Dr Cassola and AD, have worked hard during the last five years to convince members of all political groupings to vote in this manner on the Maltese hunting issue. So much so, that as in this particular instance, now even MEPs from other political groups are proposing measures on hunting in Malta which go in the direction envisaged by the Greens and AD.

Although Mr Farrugia might find it difficult to understand a reality where politicians do not tremble every time the Hunters' Federation raises its voice, the political significance of the Greens and Dr Cassola's lobbying on this issue remains a fact.

Clearly, this vote does not oblige the Maltese government to change the sell-out it negotiated with the EU Commission to appease local hunters when negotiating the implementation of the Birds Directive during accession negotiations. However, it has increased in a marked fashion the pressure on the Maltese government to stop its incessant caving in to local hunters.

This incident goes to prove that electing Arnold Cassola to the European Parliament is one sure way for the majority of Maltese and Gozitans who oppose the excesses of local hunters to make their voice heard. Voting for Dr Cassola on June 12 would send a clear message to both the PN and the MLP that appeasing local hunters has a political price which they will now have to start paying.

Voting for Dr Cassola has now also become crucial once it seems that Mr Farrugia and his Hunters' Federation have decided to contest the June 12 election. The excesses of our local hunters have humiliated our country for far too long for them to be allowed to humiliate all of us further by wasting one of our precious five seats in the European Parliament through the possible election of a Maltese hunter to the European Parliament.

Only a strong vote for Dr Cassola can give a strong counter-message to the arrogance of the Hunters' Federation who expect a whole country to remain at the mercy of their whims and fancies. It is high time that the majority of us who oppose the excesses of local hunters to make their voice heard by voting for someone like Arnold Cassola who has consistently over the years worked for the good of our country and for the protection of our environment.