Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/726681
WWW.MALTATODAY.COM.MT WEDNESDAY EDITION €1.00 Newspaper post PG 9 • Editorial WEDNESDAY • 14 SEPTEMBER 2016 • ISSUE 486 • PUBLISHED EVERY WEDNESDAY AND SUNDAY PAGE 5 PAGE 7 Brincat ploughs on despite embarrassing rejection MEPs reject Leo Brincat's nomination for European Court of Auditors but vote could be overruled PAUL COCKS DESPITE an embarrassing re- jection by Members of the Eu- ropean Parliament, Leo Brincat, Malta's nominee to the European Court of Auditors, has vowed to push on with his nomination. MEP's soundly rejected Brin- cat's nomination with a 229-381 vote yesterday, while another 58 abstained. This makes Brincat the second Maltese nominee to be refused by the European Parliament for the Court of Auditors, after Toni Abela was turned down by both the Budgetary Control Commit- tee and the European Parlia- ment's plenary. But unlike Abela, Brincat has refused to give up his nomina- tion because the vote is not bind- ing or conclusive. This means that despite yester- day's result, Brincat could still become auditor - if the Council of Ministers decides to overturn the vote. Brincat hinted at this possible outcome in a tweet in which he said his nomination would now be referred to the Council. "I am satisfied that through- out this process, nobody had any doubts about my integrity, com- petence and abilities. Thank you for your support," he added in a Facebook comment. In a further official statement issued after the vote, Brincat said he took note of the European Parliament vote, but would forge ahead regardless. "The members of this commit- tee led me to declare at my hear- ing before them that I would re- spect their decision, which in my case was a positive one. "I also note that at no stage of the plenary process, or that of the hearing by the Budgetary Control Committee, were my in- tegrity, competence, knowledge and experience ever put in any doubt," Brincat said. Birdlife: government 'has no will' to suspend hunting season Calls for suspension of autumn hunting season gather pace after two Black Storks are shot in Gozo MIRIAM DALLI BIRDLIFE said government has "no moral value or strength" to take action after to the parliamentary secretary for animal rights said it is "the prerogative" of the Ornis Committee to recommend the suspension of the autumn hunting season or propose changes to the seasons' parameters. Two Black Storks were shot in Gozo and killed on Monday, prompting BirdLife Malta to call on the government to suspend the hunting season until 12 October, in order to allow a safer passage during the migration of protected birds. Photos released by BirdLife show a blood-stained Black Stork and a dead Golden Oriole. In a statement released by the secretariat, junior minister Rod- erick Galdes said the government "always evaluates and acts on the recommendations of the Ornis Committee". He added that this was in line with regulations. This contrasts with the draconi- an decision taken by Prime Minis- ter Joseph Muscat in 2014 to close the autumn hunting season until 10 October after multiple killings of protected birds of prey. Seven months later Malta held a referendum which narrowly reject- ed proposals to ban spring hunting. A few weeks after the referen- dum, Muscat ordered the immedi- ate closure of the spring hunting season after a kestrel - a protected bird of prey - was shot by a hunter and fell into the football pitch of St. Edward's College in Cottenera while the students were on their lunch break. Leo Brincat