Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/503337
maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 29 APRIL 2015 7 This was one of the arguments which the 'no' camp failed to ad- dress. People who were mildly against hunting could in this way vote yes, trusting in Muscat's com- mitment to clamp down on illegali- ties. Therefore his response to an exer- cise in direct democracy was that of affirming his monarchical power. In fact keeping the spring hunting derogation gives Muscat the oppor- tunity to strike the balance himself according to his own political con- venience. No wonder that Muscat did not wait long to tweet his mo- narchical decree from Baku in Az- erbaijan. Sanitising the hunting season For Muscat some illegalities can be tolerated but others not. Invest- ed by the trust of the electorate he stands out as the final arbiter of le- gality. Muscat is completely alien to ecological considerations about not shooting at birds which are migrat- ing to breed but he is very vulner- able to public opinion. He also chooses to ignore the fact that illegalities are bound to happen simply because any blood sports is bound to attract unsavory types. Therefore he propagates the illusion that there can be a sanitised hunt- ing season free of any illegalities. It was the same illusion successfully propagated by the 'yes' campaign before the referendum. The problem for Muscat is that there can be no such thing as a com- pletely sanitised hunting season. While some hunters are law abid- ing, some are not and many others sometimes cannot resist shooting. It is this grey area which makes hunting difficult to control and sanitise. Muscat has now cornered himself into a position of having to close the season whenever public opinion is swayed by spectacular illegalities. Hunters may well dis- cover that losing the spring hunting season was nothing compared to the uncertainty which now places them at the complete mercy of Muscat and public opinion. For the argument on abolishing spring hunting was based on a re- alistic assessment that hunters are a mixed bunch and a realisation that while illegalities are bound to hap- pen and should be punished accord- ing to the rule of law in autumn, one should simply not take any risk in spring when birds are breeding. The question for Muscat now is: will he keep on punishing the pasto- ral law-abiding hunters portrayed in the IVA billboards for any illegality committed by what was portrayed as a small criminal minority? Such a course of action would on- ly be fair if the IVA campaign was based on a lie and if hunters are in fact the undisciplined and untrust- worthy bunch portrayed by SHout. Perhaps Muscat knew this all along and all he cares for is the gratitude of both sides, for while hunters owe him an improbable referendum victory, some environmentalists are grateful for the closure of the spring hunting season, albeit just three days before its expiry. Next time environmentalists may well pray for a f lagrant illegality on the first day of the season. News rollercoaster activity Kathleen Grima gave a civilised face to the hunting community, with (left) Lino Farrugia and Joe Perici Calascione