Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1545107
3 maltatoday | THURSDAY • 28 MAY 2026 EDITORIAL ELECTION 2026 ELECTION campaigns in Malta are mirac- ulous. Long-standing problems get solved at the blink of an eye. The MRI appointment you have been longing for finally arrives. The pot-holed road leading to your house suddenly gets tarmacked. Your mother's hip-replacement surgery gets a date. And for hunters—the request to have lifetime bans imposed on convicted persons lifted after a while. The Labour Party has promised the hunt- ing lobby that if it is elected to government once again it will introduce legal amend- ments that would allow poachers who would have been handed down a lifetime ban by the court the possibility of re-applying for a li- cence after a period of time has lapsed. You won't find this proposal in the PL's election manifesto. It is a side agreement like Konrad Mizzi's side agreement in August 2019 that committed government to grant Steward Health Care €100 million if the law courts cancelled the corrupt hospitals deal. Few details have been made available about this proposal. The chief of hunting lobby group FKNK, Lucas Micallef, has told Mal- taToday the proposed amendment will not apply to those who would have shot down protected birds. But other than this we have no idea what has been agreed behind closed doors; behind everyone's backs. What irks ordinary voters, who may not necessarily be anti-hunting or abolitionists, is the seemingly special privilege granted to hunters and trappers by politicians. The ap- peasement is nauseating because it always happens underhandedly with little discus- sion, if at all, with other stakeholders. And this is compounded by a general lack of en- forcement to clamp down on poaching and illegalities. Matters over which there should be no con- troversy, such as the registration of stuffed birds in private collections, keep getting postponed or ignored because this simple exercise will serve as a powerful tool to fight illegality. Unfortunately, it's all about water- ing down hunting laws and making them less severe. And it's not just the Labour Party that has adopted this appeasement strategy. The Nationalist Party has also made a commit- ment to protect the hunting and trapping traditions. This commitment can mean any- thing—we really do not know because there is nothing in the electoral programme. We shudder to think what is being promised face to face. BirdLife Malta is correct when it says elec- toral considerations are taking precedence over environmental protection, the rule of law, and the broader interests of society. It succinctly described this worrying trend as a political race between the two major par- ties to outbid each other with commitments that risk weakening accountability and en- forcement within the hunting and trapping sector. The obvious question is: If politicians are so keen to bend over backwards to appease the hunting lobby, why aren't they half as accommodating to environmental activists and resident groups yearning for a planning system that puts community wellbeing first? We won't hold our breath waiting for an answer because side agreements brokered away from the madding crowd seem to have greater importance than electoral manifes- tos. maltatoday MaltaToday, MediaToday Co. Ltd, Vjal ir-Rihan, San Gwann SGN 9016 MANAGING EDITOR: SAVIOUR BALZAN EXECUTIVE EDITOR: KURT SANSONE DEPUTY PRINT EDITOR: LAURA CALLEJA Tel: (356) 21 382741-3, 21 382745-6 Website: www.maltatoday.com.mt E-mail: dailynews@mediatoday.com.mt The obvious question is: If politicians are so keen to bend over backwards to appease the hunting lobby, why aren't they half as accommodating to environmental activists and resident groups yearning for a planning system that puts community wellbeing first? Appeasing the hunting lobby Momentum accuses Labour and Nationalist parties of pandering to hunting lobby Over 96% of assistant electoral commissioners and police cast their vote by 10pm on Tuesday OVER 96% of Assistant Elec- toral Commissioners (AEC) and police officers cast their vote on Tuesday ahead of the general election on 30 May. More than 6,000 assistants and counting hall staff, includ- ing police officers who will be on duty were eligible to vote early as they will be working at the counting hall on Saturday. According to the Elector- al Commission, 6,561 out of 6,821 voters cast their bal- lots by polling closing time at 10pm. More than 6,000 assistants and counting hall staff are eligible to vote early MOMENTUM accused the La- bour Party and the Nationalist Party of pandering to the hunt- ing and trapping lobby in the last days of the campaign, adding that such declarations send a danger- ous message that environmental laws are optional for politically influential groups. Momentum leader Arnold Cas- sola stressed that environmental protection should not be treated as secondary issues sacrificed for short-term political convenience. The party referred to "shock- ing" statements recently made by Economy Minister Silvio Schem- bri, who suggested that penalties imposed on hunters, who illegal- ly kill protected birds could be revoked. Cassola also criticised statements made by PN lead- er Alex Borg on Tuesday, who assured a crowd in Gozo that hunting and trapping would be "safeguarded" under a PN gov- ernment. "For decades, both the PL and PN have taken turns appeasing powerful interests while the en- vironment continues to deteri- orate," Cassola said. "Instead of defending biodiversity and the rule of law, they compete with each other to appease those who believe they should be above en- vironmental regulations." He explained that Malta has long suffered from a culture where both major parties place electoral calculations above the protection of nature and biodi- versity, noting that illegal hunt- ing and trapping continue to damage the country's interna- tional reputation by threatening species protected across Europe. Cassola insisted that the elec- tion of a third-party to parlia- ment is the only realistic way to ensure that environmental pro- tection, sustainability, and gen- uine care for creation are placed at the centre of national deci- sion-making. "Protecting biodiversity is not extremism; it is a responsibility," he concluded.