Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/337883
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 29 JUNE 2014 15 There will be a good deal of politi- cal dynamics at play as to whether the Maltese voter will be taking part in the first abrogative referendum brought by a 45,000-signature peti- tion. The Electoral Commission last week announced that the verifica- tion process of signatures for the referendum to abolish spring hunt- ing was "at an advanced stage". The Commission said that once the process is complete, the petition for an abrogative referendum would be passed on to the Constitutional Court within the time frame stipu- lated by law. The quicker the process, the more pressure there is on government to sort out its strategy on the referen- dum: Prime Minister Joseph Muscat is determined not to scorn the hunt- ing vote, which he rallied behind him with a pre-electoral deal on spring hunting and now even trapping sea- sons. He has described the referen- dum as "divisive", and will be unwill- ing to alienate the hunting vote by appearing feeble on the matter. After the Coalition Against Spring Hunting (CASH) presented its peti- tion calling for the ban of spring hunt- ing through an abrogative referen- dum, the hunters' federation FKNK and other organisations presented a separate petition to parliamentarians, calling for the protection of minority rights from a majority vote. The petition is being backed by par- liamentary secretary Michael Falzon, a hunter himself. But a sample analysed by The Times found that 17% of the alleged 105,000-odd signatures in the peti- tion belonged to people who were not on the voting register. The government has not yet dis- cussed the proposal floated last month by the Prime Minister to postpone the next two rounds of local elections, in order to hold local elections en masse in 2019, simultaneously with the Eu- ropean Parliament elections. The next round of elections for half of the 68 local councils is due in March next year, followed by another round in 2017, while the next round of European Parliament elections will be held in May 2019. If the local elections get postponed to 2019, it would effectively mean that the term of a number of local coun- cils would be extended to eight years, from the mandated three-year term. However if the proposal goes through, it would also mean that the hunting referendum, which the Coa- lition Against Spring Hunting expects to be held in March 2015, would not be held with the local elections. Holding a stand-alone referendum would deliver a blow to the coalition's hopes of attracting enough voters to polling stations. In the absence of a 50% turnout, the referendum result would not be legally binding. Although the Nationalist Party has publicly said that it would back the postponement of local elections as long as the transition took a number of years, sources have told MaltaTo- day that the opposition is concerned with what it deems as the Prime Minister's attempt to derail the anti- spring hunting campaign by holding a stand-alone referendum. CASH also shares such concerns, but any attempt to encourage absten- tion could backfire on the govern- ment and the hunting lobby because it could not only end up with an ineffec- tual but symbolic landslide victory for the anti-spring hunting camp, and the coalition could end rallying enough support to achieve a quorum. The Prime Minister has argued that postponing the local elections would save the country money and spare the electorate yet another electoral cam- paign. In recent weeks the government also controversially decided to take the first steps towards re-opening the banned practice of finch trapping, which BirdLife Malta said would set bird conservation in Malta five years back. To Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, trapping in autumn has been a fore- gone conclusion: he had already made it clear to his closest aides that he would introduce trapping for finches in autumn, even though it was not in- cluded in his electoral programme. But before last year's election Mus- cat had entered into a secret pact and promised hunters that he would introduce trapping, even though he knew that this was technically impos- sible. Under the EU's Birds Directive, der- ogating from the ban on finch trap- ping must fulfil several conditions, and Malta had already not fulfilled transitional agreements laid out in its EU accession treaty, to set up a captive breeding programme before 2009. Muscat knows that finch trapping will be met with strong opposition from the European Commission and that yet another infringement would be more than possible, effectively spelling the end of any trapping in future. But he also told the Cabinet that he did not want to be the one to stop trapping. Autumn trapping will be accom- panied by a quota which is next to impossible to enforce: that of 26,000 finches. Over the past few years, the authorities were unable to stop illegal clap-net trapping, let alone control the number that are 'legally' trapped. MaltaToday survey How Labour voters of 2013 general election will vote in Spring hunting referendum: Now July 2013 Change To abolish Spring hunting 30.5 48.8 -18.3 To retain Spring hunting 47.7 36.2 +11.5 Will not vote 8.8 - +8.8 Don't know 13 15 -2 How Nationalist voters of 2013 general election will vote in Spring hunting referendum: Now July 2013 Change To abolish Spring hunting 63.1 62.7 +0.4 To retain Spring hunting 19.3 32.7 -13.4 Will not vote 5.7 - +5.7 Don't know 11.9 4.6 +7.4 By age: 18-34 35-54 55+ To abolish Spring hunting 45.6 47.9 38.9 To retain Spring hunting 28.1 29.3 38.9 Will not vote 7 4.3 6.9 Don't Know 19.3 18.5 15.3 By level of education: University Post Sec Sec Primary To abolish Spring hunting 65.5 46.1 45.1 27.1 To retain Spring hunting 11.1 31.6 31.6 50 Will not vote 4.3 3.9 7.9 4.2 Don't know 19.1 18.4 15.4 18.7