Flimkien għal Ambjent Aħjar (FAA) is not one of the organisers of the Stop Project Piano petition, it said in a statement.

The petition was collecting signatures to request a referendum on the project.

FAA said this politically-independent petition, as well as a number of other internet-driven initiatives, confirmed that many Maltese citizens across the political divide felt very strongly about this project and were denied a say in a project of national importance to be paid out of public funds.

The organisation said it had repeatedly stated it did not wish to stop the upgrading of Valletta, but that the project should have been open to public consultation long before it was presented as a fait accompli.

This was backed up by the precepts of the Aarhus Convention whereby Malta committed itself: “to provide for early public participation, when all options are open, and effective public participation can take place”, “to encourage prospective applicants to identify the public concerned, to enter into discussions…before applying for a permit” and “to ensure that in the decision, due account is taken of the outcome of the public participation”.

All these clauses, it said, were violated in the case of the plans for the entrance to Valletta.

“While Flimkien għal Ambjent Aħjar never takes covert initiatives such as this petition, it condemns the recent media campaigns of victimisation and witch-hunts.

“These have created a situation whereby citizens do not feel comfortable about declaring themselves publicly in controversial matters for fear of ridicule or retribution and feel the need to resort to anonymity.

“The situation has degenerated beyond all acceptable norms to the point of undermining the workings of our democracy.

“Rather than encouraging free speech, the electronic media is being abused to conduct smear campaigns aimed at suppressing free speech, an essential element of any democracy,” FAA said.