Updated | Muscat must convene IIP monitoring committee - Busuttil

The Nationalist Party has called on Prime Minister Joseph Muscat to convene the citizenship monitoring committee.

Opposition leader Simon Busuttil said the Prime Minister must be true to his word and keep the nation updated on the citizenship programme, for transparency’s sake.

“One of Muscat’s pledges was to be a transparent government and we now expect Muscat to give a detailed account of all the applications submitted so far. A serious government keeps its word,” Busuttil said.

In a reaction, the government said the committee would be convened. "The Opposition leader has nothing to be worried about - contrary to the preceding administration, Joseph Muscat's government will deliver what it promised."

"Time and again the Opposition leader conjures up the IIP in a bid to instill doubt in this programme, even after this became the only EU-approved citizenship programme."

Set up last year, the IIP monitoring committee – which includes the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition and the Minister for Home Affairs – should scrutinise both the regulator for the Individual Investor Programme and the whole system.

The IIP monitoring committee would meet at least once a year, using the same structure used to monitor the work of the Malta Secret Service.

Applications for Maltese citizenship under the IIP number over 200, with some already at the Due Diligence phase. The applications translate into a commitment of foreign direct investment into Malta of over €200 million.

The applications hail from over 30 countries. A considerable number are Russian.

 The IIP was designed and operated by Henley & Partners, under a Public Services Concession.

Investors who make a minimum contribution of €650,000 (plus €25,000 each for any spouse or minor child) will be granted Maltese citizenship, provided they meet due diligence criteria and pass a criminal background check.
Apart from having had to purchase a property worth at least €350,000, or to rent a property for €16,000 per year, the third requirement – purchasing €150,000 in financial instruments – would mean a cumulative impact of €30 million in such investments.
The new citizens’ Maltese passport will give them full voting rights on the island and free access to the border-free Schengen area inside the EU.
Muscat estimated a conservative €30 million would be generated in the first year of the IIP, the programme devised by the Labour government to create a posterity fund that would finance government capital spending in health, education, and social spending.