The Ornis Committee, the official body tasked with recommending to the government whether to open this year's spring hunting season, will be convening for the second time this month tomorrow to discuss the thorny question just ten days before the general election.
The committee met last Tuesday but decided to put off the decision in the light of the court case initiated by the European Commission against Malta on the matter.
No vote was taken but it was decided that the committee would not be ruling on whether the season should be opened before the European Court of Justice (ECJ) pronounces itself.
But Environment Minister George Pullicino - who had been insisting all along on an Ornis recommendation - has kicked the ball back into the committee's court, asking for a verdict.
Last Friday, the members were informed by committee chairman Louis Cilia of tomorrow's meeting.
Hunters' federation secretary Lino Farrugia said he was hoping for and expecting a green light from the committee, in view of the positive decisions that had been taken in previous years.
"Naturally, this year there is the Commission's decision to take Malta to court. But we do not have access to the documents the government has in relation to the ECJ, and neither does the committee... so we're hoping and expecting that the decision is positive," he said.
BirdLife executive director Tolga Temuge, who had applauded the committee's non-decision earlier this month, insisted yesterday that the move smacked of a smokescreen by Environment Minister George Pullicino who "doesn't have the courage to take the decision himself".
"We all know what happened last year: The decision to open the season was dictated to the committee by the government. Now, after the last meeting in which it was decided not to take a decision in view of the ECJ decision, we're calling another meeting. It makes me think this is all a sham."
When contacted, Mr Pullicino would not be drawn to give his reaction to the comments made by Mr Temuge but referred to the letter he had sent Mr Cilia, a copy of which the ministry released to The Times.
In the letter, Mr Pullicino points out to Mr Cilia that the Ornis Committee is legally bound to make a recommendation to the Environment Minister on whether or not to open the hunting season.
The European Commission filed an extraordinary application against Malta earlier this month calling on the ECJ to bar the government from allowing the next spring season to open even before the case against Malta is heard.
The government had been served with two written warnings by the Commission over this issue, a first formal notice in July 2006 and a reasoned opinion last October.
The Environment Ministry had replied officially to both letters but did not specify that it would stop spring hunting, arguing that prior to accession it had negotiated the right to apply a derogation that would allow hunting for turtle doves and quail.