During the last couple of weeks of any electoral campaign, the intensity always ratchets up several notches. You know how it is: letterboxes stuffed full of campaign literature, increasingly wild claims and – perhaps in a uniquely Maltese trait – the last-minute scandal which is supposed to sway the result.
The campaign about the spring hunting referendum is no exception. The hunters are really upping the ante in these last days. When they’re not bombarding us with press releases of hunters building schools in Africa, giving blood or donating bird boxes, they’re taking over the letters pages in the newspapers and the online comments boards with missives that may very well be written by the same hand. Their campaign posters don’t feature a single gun or dead bird (the end result of their shooting sprees) and could very well be brochures for a ramblers’ club.
There are moments when this mask of benevolence falls off and we see a darker side of the campaign. Union Print’s editor-in-chief Sandro Mangion has been threatened for voicing his personal support of the ‘No’ position. Obscene graffiti targeting anti-hunting lobbyists has been showing up. And every so often there are ominous signs of what happens in the event of a ‘Yes’ victory.
The hunters’ big reveal – their game changer – was the fact that Malta Today editor Saviour Balzan was involved in the negotiations leading up to EU accession. Then, of course, there is all the baseless scaremongering about how a ‘No’ victory could lead to the eradication of all our hobbies.
The hunters keep banging on about this when it is quite obvious that stopping the slaughter of birds on their way to nest and breed has absolutely nothing to do with the practice of hobbies.
All the runners, stamp-collecting enthusiasts, divers and watercolour artists out there can sleep easy. An abrogative referendum cannot stop you from doing what you love. That’s because there is no law which specifically allows these hobbies to be exercised, so there can be no referendum repealing that law.
When a Maltese politician talks about ‘strict enforcement’ he or she is having you on
Spring hunting is permitted because of a law to this effect and that is what is being sought to be removed. One of Malta’s foremost legal figures Judge Giovanni Bonello confirmed this fact. So that’s one big fallacy laid to rest.
I don’t doubt that there will be more untruths and lies spread before April 11. The fog of misinformation should not stop us from trying to realise the main goal of this referendum – safeguarding the beauty of biodiversity by putting a stop to hunting for two short weeks in spring.
That’s what it boils down to – taking a stand in favour of conservation and preserving our natural heritage for our and future generations. There is no one left to do this.
The buck stops with us – those of us who will be voting ‘No’. Politicians of both stripes have been found to be sadly lacking in this regard. Under the previous administration we had a whole series of incidents with magnificent protected birds being slain and perpetrators being let off with gentle slaps on the wrist. And the rot continued with the present administration and the way the Administrative Law Enforcement Unit has been rendered an ineffectual ghost unit.
Law enforcement has never been our strong point, more so in the environmental sector where the relevant units are pathetically understaffed. When a Maltese politician talks about ‘strict enforcement’ he or she is having you on. There has never been enforcement – strict or otherwise.
We cannot realistically expect it to start now. Having learnt the hard way that citizens who care for the environment and for the beauty of nature have been abandoned by their leaders, it is now solely up to us to try and wrest back a little of what is left of our natural heritage.
On April 11 forget the lies and misinformation. Stick to the courage of your convictions and vote ‘No’.
cl.bon@nextgen.net.mt