PN files motion against citizenship scheme legal notice

The Nationalist Party has presented a parliamentary motion calling for the revocation of the most recent legal notice that enacted the Individual Investor Programme.

The motion was presented by shadow home affairs minister Jason Azzopardi.

The Opposition presented the motion following a series of amendments sent by Opposition leader Simon Busuttil to Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, so that the sale of citizenship would reflect effective residence of 12 months in Malta.

Under the IIP, citizenship can be granted to applicants who pay €650,000, purchase a €350,000 property and invest €150,000 in shares and bonds, after residing in Malta for 12 months.

The Opposition is claiming that the legal notice does not demand that the residence period is “effective” or that the residence applies for the applicant’s dependants and relatives.

The Opposition said this opened the door to abuse and was not in good faith with an agreement reached with the European Commission on the IIP.

The government has repeatedly claimed the IIP is the only citizenship sale programme that has been green-lit by the EC.

The Opposition also said the legal notice stipulates that it is a private company – Henley & Partners – that will run the IIP and not a government agency, Identity Malta.

“In a most irresponsible manner, the legal notice gives this private company the right to receive all the payment due from the applicant and keep this money throughout the period of due diligence, that is, more six months to some two years, without any safeguards in favour of the Maltese government,” the motion reads.

“It also gives the home affairs minister the power to grant citizenship to whoever has a criminal record or is a threat to national security... and does not provide that the list of names of those granted [IIP] citizenship is published in a separate list and distinctly from those granted citizenship by naturalisation.”

The Opposition said LN 47 of 2014 goes “directly against the national interest”.