Just when you thought the hunters’ federation could not sink to new lows, last Monday we were treated to its latest shameful demand. In a desperate attempt to stop a referendum on spring hunting from going ahead, the FKNK told reporters it would be launching a petition to Parliament to amend the Referendum Act.

The hunters want to insert a clause to protect “rights, traditions and privileges” of minorities from a referendum.

The hunters’ latest demand would have been funny were it not so undemocratic. Claiming that hunters deserve protection from the wishes of voters because they are a minority group is a blatant attempt to twist the real meaning of minority rights.

Let’s start with the basics. In an ideal world, the issue of spring hunting should not be determined through a referendum, though it is one of the most legitimate democratic tools.

Will the outcome of the vote really reflect the way the public thinks? How many will actually bother with the inconvenience of going to a polling booth and vote on an issue they might merely consider as seasonally inconvenient? If the referendum fails to go through, will the hunters make even more out­rageous demands?

Will the electorate be really voting on spring hunting or will it be passing judgement on hunting in general? What if the Prime Minister decides to appease the hunting lobby and somewhat urges the party faithful to vote it down?

The practice of hunting in spring is banned across the EU, the main reason being that birds are breeding and on their migratory passages. Yet Malta continues to challenge this law in the European Court, using flawed arguments (and figures) to justify its cause. Both the Nationalist and Labour administrations have sidestepped EU legislation to pander to the hunting lobby and ignored the barrage of bad inter­national publicity. They have also been unable to stop illegalities.

Trying to put spokes in the wheels of public opinion, the hunters are arguing their hobby is a minority right. This means they are equating the senseless shooting of birds (for fun) during a delicate period with rights applying to people who might be persecuted because of their religion, ethnicity or sexual orientation.

The FKNK has branded the probable upcoming referendum on spring hunting as an attack on democracy, saying that no minority had the right to abolish a “socio-cultural tradition” practised by another minority. Such an argument would have been valid were we talking about rights, not privileges. The mere fact that hunting is a privilege is shown by the fact that you need a licence to carry a shotgun.

If killing creatures for fun is deemed to be a right, then we may as well don caveman clothes and turn the clock back to the Stone Age. Just because hunting is a tradition which has been around for centuries does not make it right, not to mention the fact that it impinges on the rights of others.

Hunters’ attempt to lure minorities on grounds that they are fighting the same battle is pathetic, because groups like gays and disabled rightly deserve to fight for proper protection.

Hunters are rightly concerned about the referendum. The speed with which the required 34,000 signatures were collected shows law-abiding citizens have had enough.

Once the hunters’ ridiculous petition reaches Parliament, MPs should dismiss it outright as a ludicrous stunt and return it to sender. If politicians do not have the courage to stop spring hunting they do not have the right to disenfranchise citizens.

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