“Hands off referenda” – NGOs say hunting lobby’s proposal is “undemocratic”

A referendum is one of the most democratic tools in any country, including Malta, and the right of voters to demand a referendum should not be hindered in any form or way,” said BirdLife Malta.

To this end, twelve other civil society NGOs have joined with BirdLife Malta in slamming the hunting lobby’s call ^[1] on the President to abolish this citizens’ right as undemocratic.

In a joint statement on Saturday, they said that the proposal made by the the Federation for Hunting and Conservation (FKNK) to prevent the calling of an abrogative referendum in Malta and to curtail the power of voters to demand a referendum, “is undemocratic and impinges negatively on citizens’ rights in a democratic society.”

The NGO went on to say that “the hunting lobby wants the President to abolish the citizens’ right to invoke a referendum under the excuse – of protecting the legal rights, interests, practices, traditions and privileges of minority groups.”

The Lobby argued that their “line of thought is supported by a June 2014 petition signed by 104,000 people and presented to Parliament six years ago.”

“But unlike any other request, in the case of a referendum the signatures collected from at least 10% of Maltese voters are rigorously checked before being accepted as a valid reason for a referendum to be held,” stated the NGOs.

They pointed out that the issue here is “not solely about a small section of society that enjoy killing and trapping birds but it is also about the rest of society that are having their natural resources abused of.”

“Our country needs to safeguard the democratic right of citizens to participate in diverse ways in the legislative process,” stressed the NGOs. “Limiting one of the few avenues for citizen participation would be an affront to democracy, regardless of the particular issue at hand.”

The joint statement concluded by calling on the President, the Prime Minister and his Cabinet of Ministers to “keep the country’s strong democratic mechanisms intact and to ensure that Malta’s legislation is not in any way tampered with to appease this undemocratic request.”

The NGOs endorsing this BirdLife Malta reaction are: Din l-Art Helwa, Nature Trust Malta-FEE, Moviment Graffitti, Friends of the Earth Malta, Futur Ambjent Wiehed, Flimkien ghal Ambjent Ahjar (FAA), Isles of the Left, Ramblers’ Association of Malta, The Archaeological Society Malta, Wirt Ghawdex, Aditus Foundation, Malta LGBTIQ Rights Movement (MGRM).