Who exactly are the foreigners?
Mark Mifsud Bonnici achieves the remarkable feat of shooting both his mouth off and himself in his own foot with his letter Illegal Fireworks and Illegal Hunting (March 29). He demands to know just how long "the authorities" will continue to allow...
Mark Mifsud Bonnici achieves the remarkable feat of shooting both his mouth off and himself in his own foot with his letter Illegal Fireworks and Illegal Hunting (March 29). He demands to know just how long "the authorities" will continue to allow foreigners to dictate to Malta how our hunting laws should be enacted.
I am sure Mr Bonnici's argument has lost something in the translation from the gibberish, but it seems to have escaped his notice that "the authorities" he is calling on to take action are now "the foreigners" he dislikes so much and have been so ever since that day when a clear and emphatic majority of the Maltese electorate voted to join the European Union.
Hunting in all member states is now governed by EU law. The EU's rules, regulations and legislation are based on the wishes of the majority of its 450 million inhabitants, as opposed to Malta's 400,000 inhabitants - of whom only an insignificant minority are the islands' hunters.
If he really believes in the validity of his case, Mr Bonnici - instead of pressing for a silly (hill)billy petition to persuade the EU Commission that Malta's poor, downtrodden and oppressed hunters were lied to by ... er ... the EU Commission - would be more honest to launch a democratic campaign to convince Malta to exercise the perfect right it has to withdraw from the EU.
They might even win. Of the other 26 member states, who'd care? Of those who matter, who'd even notice? Of course, Brussels would want its money back.
Incidentally, Mr Bonnici and his fellow hunters would be well advised to use more temperate language in future.
The EU has potent legislation against illegal hunting. It has even more powerful laws against inciting racial hatred and distrust. Having failed every test it has tried at the ballot box, the hunting lobby here is now trying to distract attention from these failures by citing foreign influence as being the main reason behind the EU's determination to have existing European law applied properly in Malta.
I know of at least one senior EU Commissioner who would absolutely love to test the argument that this is in itself illegal in a court of law and, Mr Bonnici and his like should take careful note, that would be a criminal court, not a civil one.