[attach id=349412 size="medium"][/attach]The signatures collected to force the proposed spring hunting referendum have been verified, forcing polls in nine to 12 months’ time, Times of Malta has learnt.
The 41,000 signatures collected by the Coalition to Abolish Spring Hunting were legitimate and had been handed over to the Constitutional Court, Electoral Commission sources told this newspaper.
The spring hunting season is in violation of the EU Birds’ Directive but the government has been applying derogations to the law to allow the controversial practice to continue.
Asked for his first reaction, hunters’ federation CEO Lino Farrugia said the FKNK would be filing objection to the proposed referendum but did not elaborate.
“We will be taking this step-by-step because it is not yet clear whether the referendum will actually be held [since the courts could decide against it]. I am not sure whether a stand-alone would work in favour either,” he said.
The commission’s signature verification does not mark the end of the long referendum process.
We will be taking this step by step because it is not yet clear whether the referendum will actually be held. I am not sure whether a stand-alone would work in favour either
The future of the vote will now be caught up in a six-month judicial review which will decide whether or not the referendum can legally be held.
Once given the green light by the courts, the President will then set a date for the referendum, no sooner than three months and no later than six.
The law states that the vote will not be held until nine months – this means the referendum date should be set between April and July 2015.
This also means it will miss the electorate’s next appointment at the polls for the local council elections in March and possibly cause a stand-alone referendum.
This would appear to favour the hunters’ federation, which last month called on the government not to tie the vote to an election.
The FKNK had said that holding the vote with an election would not be a real reflection of the people’s views on hunting.
In a statement, the coalition yesterday urged the government to hold the referendum in conjunction with the local council elections to reduce costs.
The last stand-alone referendum, held to decide whether or not to introduce divorce legislation, had cost the country in excess of €3 million. The figure rose to €4 million once the government-subsidised Air Malta flights were factored in.
The FKNK said it collected 104,000 signatures of its own in an attempt to lobby MPs to block the referendum. The hunters claimed the proposed referendum would impinge on minority rights.
Additional reporting Kurt Sansone.
What the coalition wants
The anti-spring hunting referendum was prompted by a coalition made up of 11 groups, including Alternattiva Demokratika, Birdlife and Din l-Art Ħelwa.
It is aimed at cancelling a three-year-old legal notice that sets out the rules under which the government can apply a derogation to open a spring hunting season for turtle dove and quail.
If it goes ahead, the vote will be the first in 150 years to have been prompted by electors and the only one to cancel a law.
An abrogative referendum is a different kettle of fish from the previous six referenda, including those on EU accession and divorce, because its only aim is to repeal a specific law or parts of it.
If the referendum is held and a majority approve, the Government will have no choice because the law will immediately be struck off the statute books.