Citizenship: Mallia did not mention sale at fixed price – Azzopardi

Opposition spokesperson Jason Azzopardi has rebuffed claims that the PN is conveying a contradictory view in its stand against the controversial Individual Investor Programme.

"From the first day, Simon Busuttil made it clear that the party is against the concept of selling our citizenship. We cannot accept turning the Maltese identity into a commodity," Azzopardi says in an interview with MaltaToday.

Yet despite their objection "in principle", the Nationalist Party has tabled various amendments to the bill, but all but one were rejected by the government.

Branding the scheme as abhorrent, Azzopardi insisted that he feels vindicated by the onslaught in the international media and how turned made Malta a laughing stock.

Meanwhile, Azzopardi explained that Home Affairs Minister Manuel Mallia approached him in Parliament to discuss the government's plans to set up a citizenship investment programme. "At first, the programme was described at having one sale aim, that of attracting high net worth investors who will be granted citizenship after investing in the Maltese economy. No mention was made of selling the Maltese passport at a fixed price."

Read more in today's edition of MaltaToday