BirdLife Malta this morning took their ‘Your Voice Counts’ campaign to the politicians, hand-delivering more than 150 copies of their wildlife and countryside questionnaire [1] to the headquarters of both the Labour and Nationalist parties, accompanied by BirdLife volunteers dressed in suits and wearing caricature masks of the party leaders with RTO stickers over their mouths.
BLM said that only three Labour candidates and just a single Nationalist candidate responded when the questionnaire was sent in electronic form last month.
It is BirdLife’s intention to publish the results of the questionnaire for members of the public to see where their candidates stand on questions of wildlife protection, conservation and countryside access.
“It begs the question: have the candidates been instructed to ignore the questionnaire?” said Steve Micklewright, Executive Director at BirdLife Malta.
When asked last week about the lack of response from Labour candidates, Joseph Muscat replied, “this is a democracy” and “those who answered the questionnaire will be accountable for what they answered and those who didn’t answer will be accountable for not answering.”
Today, in reply to this, Mr Micklewright said, “In a democratic election the voters have a right to know what they are voting for and political candidates have an obligation to disclose their positions on issues which affect the people they would represent. These issues affect everyone in Malta. People should rightly expect candidates from both parties to stop playing dumb and make their positions clear.”
Meanwhile, in response to BirdLife Malta’s questionnaire, Dr Frank Psaila, PN Information Director sent an email to BirdLife stating that the Nationalist Party supported “sustainable hunting” as a “legitimate activity,” but that “these activities should be enforced while the rights and legitimate expectations of members of the Maltese population who do not practice hunting should be protected and promoted.” (see below for full transcript).
In response, Mr Micklewright said, “Voters have a right to know how their expectations with respect to greater and safer countryside access will be protected and promoted. If candidates answered the questionnaire it would give them more information to help them decide if their expectations would to be met by any real changes.
“That’s why we are now delivering individually addressed printed copies to every candidate who failed to complete the electronic questionnaire.”
BirdLife said that it has also provided pre-paid addressed envelopes in which to return the completed questionnaires. “We don’t want there to be any excuse for candidates to avoid answering the questionnaire,” said Mr Micklewright. “We are also extending the deadline for the return of the questionnaires to 10th February.”
BirdLife continued by saying that it has extended invitations to meet both Dr Gonzi and Dr Muscat in order to discuss a number of key issues, but while meetings have been promised with both leaders, nothing has been confirmed.
“Mr Micklewright said, “All the talk from the politicians is of defending the ‘rights’ of hunters and trappers, who would place themselves above the law, and nothing is being said by them about protecting Malta’s natural heritage, its wildlife and countryside, which belong to everyone, whether they carry a shotgun or not.”
Find out more about BirdLife Malta’s “Your Voice Counts” campaign at www.birdlifemalta.org [2].
Transcript of email from Dr Frank Psaila: “The Nationalist Party considers sustainable hunting, within the parameters of local and EU legislation, as a legitimate activity with a considerable socio-cultural background, that should not be banned. This includes hunting for turtle doves and quails during spring in line with the European Court of Justice (CASE C-76/08) of 10 September 2009. The rules governing these activities should be enforced while the rights and legitimate expectations of the members of the Maltese population who do not practice hunting should be protected and promote.”
Photos show BirdLife Malta Executive Director, Steve Micklewright, delivering wildlife and countryside questionnaires to Labour Party candidates at the party’s headquarters in Hamrun and Pieta.