Jonathan ShawJonathan Shaw

Nationalist MEP candidate Jonathan Shaw is declaring that, in the eventuality of a referendum to abolish spring hunting, he will vote in favour of such a proposal.

He stresses that this is his personal view, which might not necessarily reflect his party’s position.

He is the first contestant representing a major political party to openly pronounce himself against spring hunting.

Mr Shaw, a businessman who is venturing in politics for the first time, made this statement in a five-minute interview which timesofmalta.com is conducting with all candidates ahead of next month’s European Parliament election. Last week, the Coalition for the Abolition of Spring Hunting submitted a total of 44,376 signatures to the Electoral Commission in its quest to force an abrogative referendum.

While Mr Shaw’s pronouncement might not necessarily indicate a shift in position at party level, developments in recent weeks indicate that the two major parties could be heading in opposite directions.

Labour candidate Cyrus Engerer last month presented about 1,600 signatures to the hunting lobby that launched its own petition in an attempt to ban the possibility of holding a referendum on spring hunting.

Asked whether he would stand for election on his personal views or those of his party, Mr Shaw left all options open saying that as an MEP he would work within the Nationalist Party and the European People’s Party but also within his “vision and personal beliefs”.

Mr Shaw denied that the party sat on the fence on this issue, arguing that the PN had decided to leave partisan politics out of the campaign to gather signatures to force a referendum.

“My view is that if there is a referendum, voters should be allowed to decide according to their personal beliefs,” he said.

Asked whether his stance could jeopardise the party’s support among the hunting lobby, Mr Shaw said he had raised the issue as soon as he had been approached to contest on the PN ticket. “The party accepted my views as, otherwise, my candidature would have been rejected,” he said.

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