A hunters’ petition aimed at blocking any future referenda that threaten their pastime is expected to be revived in Parliament in the coming weeks.
Hunters’ Federation (FKNK) president Joe Perici Calascione said the petition would “finally” stop gathering dust when “a government MP” presented it to Parliament’s Petitions Committee in the coming weeks.
“We want to see this matter addressed properly. When we held meetings with the government, we were told the [Petitions] Committee was the best place to start discussing our wish for a review of the referendum law,” Mr Perici Calascione said.
He did not name the government MP who would move the petition but said the FKNK had been having talks with three government members of Parliament.
Hunters collected more than 104,000 signatures in 2014, calling on MPs to make it illegal for minority rights to be abolished through a referendum.
Three trolleys carrying boxes of signed petitions were handed to then parliamentary secretary Michael Falzon after hundreds of hunters marched through Valletta in a demonstration.
According to parliamentary procedure, once the petition is discussed by the House Committee, it could go before Parliament to be discussed by MPs. It could also be forwarded to another parliamentary committee, ministry, department or relevant government authority for review.
The petition was the federation’s response to a similar initiative taken by a coalition of environmentalists which had triggered an abrogative referendum on whether spring hunting should be banned.
This was held in 2015 and the public narrowly voted to retain the practice.
The hunters’ petition disappeared from the national spotlight until this May, when the federation used the election campaign to lobby both parties to review the Referendum Act. It also called on the government to lobby alongside the federation against EU “interference”.
The practice in Malta of trapping songbirds is before the European Court of Justice, with Brussels hoping to see it outlawed.
Mr Perici Calascione acknowledged that trapping was still a burning issue.