Hunters' candidate blames media for poor showing

The hunters' federation yesterday blamed its poor performance at the European Parliament elections two weeks ago on the "brainwashing" carried out by the political parties and on a discriminatory media, which it claimed did not give it rightful coverage.

The honorary secretary and EP candidate of the Federazzjoni Kaccaturi Nassaba u Konservazzjonisti, Lino Farrugia, polled just over 3,000 votes in the elections.

In a strong attack on journalists, Mr Farrugia pointed his finger at the fact that newspapers carried the "inappropriate" photos and that The Times, for example, used a photograph of him that was 15 years old.

These, he claimed, were among the reasons why he did not win more than 20 per cent of the votes that he had expected from the 16,000 registered and licensed hunters and trappers.

FKNK president Joseph Buttigieg said the federation had expected and hoped for the support of thousands of its members.

"If there is anyone who thinks that the FKNK has been floored, they should look back in time and they will find the answer," Mr Buttigieg warned.

"If someone won votes on the strength of a message aimed at someone else, he should not be proclaiming victory and be pleased with what he sees in the mirror," he continued in an attempt to justify Mr Farrugia's "unexpected" performance.

Despite the fact that Mr Farrugia obtained such a low number of votes from the hunters and trappers - and that "most of them were not from the members" anyway - it did not mean that the FKNK had been weakened, he insisted.