Simon Busuttil did not waste any time to get himself busy in the New Year. His bold and decisive decision to reshuffle his shadow cabinet was well received from party faithful and pundits alike.

Such decisions are not easy but the party leader did not hesitate to take on board criticism directed at him and acted without undue delay.

We had barely digested the news of the shadow cabinet reshuffle when news about the constitutional court’s decision to allow the spring hunting referendum to go ahead grabbed the headlines. In a press conference the Prime Minister declared his voting intention.

In the days that followed members of the media pursued the leader of the Opposition to do likewise.

Speculations surfaced when Busuttil referred the matter for discussion within the party. But those who thought that the PN leader was not going to divulge how he will vote in the upcoming referendum were wrong, as were those who thought he did not have an opinion about the issue.

Unlike Muscat, Busuttil took the issue to the party, as expected of any leader in any democratic political party in any democratic country.

He could have jumped the gun as Dr Muscat did, but he respects his party’s organs.

Those who thought the PN leader was not going to divulge how he will vote in the upcoming referendum were wrong

A full dialogue took place within the party and when discussions were concluded he informed the media of the party’s position and of his personal position.

In his press conference, he brought to light some important points which deserve highlighting.

First, he was one of the main negotiators prior to Malta’s accession to the EU and successfully negotiated a derogation for limited spring hunting.

Second, during the first nine years of Malta’s membership of the EU, successive Nationalist governments struck the right balance between allowing limited spring hunting and providing adequate enforcement.

While allowing limited spring hunting, law enforcement officers ensured proper adherence to the law.

Third, in view of the measures taken by the previous administrations to ensure sustainability, the anti-spring hunting movement, at the time did not feel the need to push for a referendum to ban spring hunting.

Since Muscat came to power, things have changed radically and proper enforcement has been lacking.

Law enforcement officers who were trained and experienced were transferred and substituted by others who, to say the least, were not properly trained and could not perform their duties efficiently.

As a result there was this sense of laissez-faire among a number of hunters. Needless to say, environmentalists were irritated. The coalition against spring hunting now had a point to make.

Had Muscat’s government stuck with the previous administration’s enforcement programme we would probably not have been summoned to decide the future of spring hunting on April 11. Muscat should have been more careful with his pre-election promises.

On the other hand Busuttil and the PN have been consistent all the way on this matter and the Opposition leader’s announcement proved once again that he is an honest and a consistent politician.

The party leaders have now satisfied the thirst of those wanting to know where they stand on the hunting issue.

It is now time for all politicians to take a back seat and let the two movements debate the matter serenely without diluting it with party politics.

Busuttil has already declared that he will be putting the services of his party’s media to both camps and I have no reason to believe that the PL will do otherwise.

This will be a different campaign. Probably the first in which the main political parties do not participate.

Having the same position, the party leaders ensured there will be no winner and loser.

Consequently their followers should feel free to decide whichever camp to support. I would not be surprised if electors decide to vote no if the coalition mounts an organised campaign.

So here we go…. a roller-coaster ride of another campaign. While party leaders will be absent from the referendum debate, they still have the local elections campaign to run.

The PL is expected to retain a comfortable majority in this round as they are Labour-leaning localities.

As for the PN, things are going the right way. The party in opposition should be satisfied with the public’s response in the first weeks of the New Year.

Busuttil emerged out of this period as a bold and consistent leader.

Hermann Schiavone is a candidate for the Nationalist Party.

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