With the opening of the spring hunting season the government was ignoring all EU obligations, financial implications and social repercussions, Alternattiva Demokratika said.

In a statement it said the government was showing it was only concerned about its political mileage with the hope of not losing votes.

The declaration that only 2,500 licences would be issued would divide and create further friction between the 11,000 hunters.

The government had itself noted this was close to impossible so one could conclude it was intentionally creating internal strife within the hunter’s community so that it would be able to say that once the hunters did not sort this out themselves, it would not open the season. This was immoral, AD said.

The government, it said, had long been taking hunters for a ride for it knew all along that it was impossible to allow spring hunting and was trying to find ways and means to put the blame for not honouring its decision on somebody else.

In saying that only 3,900 turtle doves and 3,600 quails would be allowed to be hunted - a far smaller number than what was caught in autumn, the government was admitting that there was an alternative solution in autumn.

AD reiterated that it was completely against spring hunting but deplored the government’s immoral acts as much as it deplores the irresponsible decisions, the financial implications of which would have to be borne by the electorate.