Joseph Muscat and Simon Busuttil have let the country down over a matter that strikes at the heart of the country’s national interest – the environment.

Instead of considering what is best for the country, they first thought about what was best for their party when they both declared that they were going to vote Yes in the spring hunting referendum. Instead of taking the lead, they opted to pander to the hunting lobby to ensure they do not lose their favour.

In the process, they ended up losing credibility in so far as the protection of the environment is concerned. They have traded the moral high ground for political support, confirming the strongly held impression that the two main political parties are, shamefully, firmly in thrall to lobbyists.

Their stand goes directly against the sentiment of no fewer than 124,000 people, representing 49.6 per cent of those who voted. Victory to the hunters does not mean they are in the right.

Killing birds “during the periods of their greatest vulnerability, such as the return migration to the nesting areas, reproduction and the raising of chicks,” as the Bird Directive puts it so well, can never be right. Whatever reason the leaders of the two main political parties raise in defence of their stand in favour of spring hunting, the practice of killing birds when they are on their way to breed is intrinsically wrong.

The referendum outcome must have come as a shock to both Labour and the Nationalists – to Labour because, following Dr Muscat’s open support to the hunters’ cause, they must have believed they would win by a huge majority, and to the Nationalists who failed to realise that times have changed since they fought for the derogation when they were in government.

Either that, or, like Labour, they felt they could not afford to ruffle the feathers of hunters in their constituencies. It was a lose-lose situation for both parties, but it is Dr Muscat who should have most of the egg on his face. His declaration at the start of the campaign that he was going to vote Yes was taken as an instruction to Labour supporters to do the same, and it is puerile for the Labour leader to deny this.

It is remarkable that the Nationalists failed to see that the greatest support for the protection of the environment lies in their strongholds. The two party leaders gave their supporters the wrong direction and the outcome of their blind quest for political support now creates political repercussions for both.

In his reaction, Dr Muscat said half the population had given the government the message that the environment must be placed higher up on its agenda. He was reported saying: “This is a clear message which I have taken note of.” Dr Muscat has been taking note of so many wrong turnings that his notebook must be pretty full.

Did he and his party really need the outcome of the referendum to realise how increasingly aware the people have become of the need to protect the environment?

True, as Dr Muscat said, the media, particularly the three newspapers that supported the No campaign, ended up on the losing side, but the size of that segment of the population that wants greater environmental protection is so huge that it has become a force to reckon with.

The country now waits to see how the government is going to solve the problem of the illegal boathouse owners, but no one should hold their breath.