The anti-spring hunting lobby yesterday highlighted the “considerable” influence on the referendum result exerted by the stand in favour taken by both political leaders.

Speaking at the Naxxar counting hall, campaign spokesman Saviour Balzan officially announced the outcome which many in the hall had already known for several minutes.

“We concede that the Yes camp has won,” he said as he sighed and paused briefly to rub his eyes, which had turned red under his tinted lenses.

“We had a culture against us, but also had no one on our side, no politicians speaking out, other than the people whom we thank for their support,” he added, as the hunting federation top brass walked through the same hall to announce their victory.

Prime Minister Joseph Muscat and Opposition leader Simon Busuttil had publicly expressed their support for the hunting lobby in the build-up to the vote, with Dr Muscat twice speaking out in favour of the hunters’ cause.

We had a culture against us, but also had no one on our side, no politicians speaking out

Asked what he felt the result’s determining factors were, Mr Balzan said the campaign’s lack of an organised and mobilised political structure had played a big role.

Spokeswoman Moira Delia said “it certainly didn’t help” when asked about Dr Muscat’s public support for the Yes camp.

A teary eyed Ms Delia said she, along with the rest of the campaigners, had been up all night and was disappointed with the result.

“You are either a winner or a loser, that’s the way it goes. We did our best,” she said, as the sound of cheering from the dozens of gathered hunters erupted nearby.

Mr Balzan said the polls published prior to the referendum count had not got it right. Polls had consistently put the anti-spring hunting lobby ahead, by as many as six percentage points.

Polls were “not gospel” and merely offered indications and projections of voting results.

However, they had not been completely wrong, he added, as the roughly nine per cent who were still uncertain of how tovote seemed to have moved towards the hunting lobby.

Looking at the positive side, Mr Balzan said the result had shown that a large portion of Maltese society was ready to speak up on environmental concerns.

He said thousands of young people had supported the anti-hunting lobby which showed future generations were not going to take poor environmental decisions lightly.

“This shows there is still a light at the end of the tunnel. A strong environmental message has still been sent to the political class,” he said.

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