Parliamentary Secretary Tony Abela and MPs David Agius and Mario Galea, who hail from constituencies known for their predominance of hunters and trappers, are reported to have insisted on a calmer approach to hunters by law enforcement officers, as according to them, hunters have been through enough anguish and won’t take any more police control.

However, some ministers rallied around the Prime Minister, who is concerned about the alarming situation relating to internal security, particularly the threat of renegade hunters ready to jeopardise public safety during manifestations, and worse still, the vandals threatening to deface historical sites.

Environment Minister George Pullicino is reported to have intervened and explained that his ministry is doing all it can to defend Malta’s case with the Commission. However, he warned that it is not so easy, particularly when one notes that Commissioner Stavros Dimas is determined to close ranks on the issue.

The extent of the turmoil currently experienced by the Nationalist Party – under pressure from the European Commission over bird hunting and trapping, as well as from the hunters lobby and environmentalists alike – has been revealed by reports of a heated and dramatic recent Parliamentary Group meeting at Girgenti Palace last week.

In the meeting, ministers and MPs discussed the bird hunting and trapping issue, and also conducted a post-mortem of last month’s Local Council elections that turned out to be the umpteenth political setback for the party in government.

Prime Minister and PN leader Lawrence Gonzi heard his Parliamentary Group analyse the current situation, and conclude that the only way out of the embarrassing situation on hunting and trapping is for government to do its utmost to present a good case in Brussels by trying to push for studies that could "dispel the impression of the thousands of birds allegedly shot or trapped by Maltese hunters".

Ministers and MPs are reported to have accepted the fact that there is nothing much one can do. However, some argued that with hindsight the hunters could have been handled in a much more subtle manner.

Others argued that they could not understand how they were allegedly “misled” by those who were meant to provide the right information, with the result that they insisted that an agreement on hunting and trapping had been reached before the EU referendum, when it is now evident that this was not the case at all.

http://www.maltatoday.com.mt/2007/04/01/t1.html