Citizenship scheme | ‘Government should shoulder responsibility for tarnishing Malta’s name'

Simon Busuttil stresses that waiving of secrecy clause is not enough

24 November 2013, 12:00am
by Daniel Mizzi

3 min read

Opposition leader Simon Busuttil

In a fresh attack on the contentious Individual Investor Programme (IIP), Opposition leader Simon Busuttil stressed that in light of the government "steamrolling over the Opposition and the country", should "shoulder the political responsibility."

"The sale of the Maltese and European identity tarnished Malta's reputation all over the world and the country became a laughing stock. Consequently, the government should shoulder the responsibility," the PN leader said.

Addressing the Nadur PN club, Busuttil reiterated the PN's stance against the citizenship scheme. The controversial IIP scheme, which is set to facilitate the sale of the Maltese passport for €650,000 to non-EU citizens, was approved by the House of Representatives on November 11.

"From the start the PN said that it disagreed with the scheme on principle. The Opposition MPs appealed for a consensus to waive the secrecy clause and impose an investment threshold on the beneficiaries, yet the government bulldozed over everyone and obstinately approved the scheme."

Asked whether the Opposition is ready to extend its hand of cooperation to strike a consensus with the government, Busuttil insisted that all PN deputies called for the government to discuss the scheme with all stakeholders and the Opposition.

In light of the amendment to the Maltese Citizenship Act, international media bemoaned Malta's stance, a feat that according to Simon Busuttil "put Malta's name to shame."

"Instead of the government admitting its mistake, it blamed the bad publicity on the Opposition."

"How can the PN control the international media? Does anyone believe that the criticism was due to the Opposition, when in reality the sole reason for Malta's lambasting was the government?" Busuttil argued.

Meanwhile, despite Deputy Prime Minister Louis Grech announcing the waiving of the secrecy clause, Busuttil insisted that this is not enough and called for the government to stop stamping its feet and listen to the Maltese public and the organisations.

"The revocation of the secrecy clause is not enough as the Opposition is still committed to implement its proposed amendments. Nevertheless, the PN is still open to a consensus."

Turning his attention on Gozo budgetary measures, Simon Busuttil lambasted the government for not its lack of job creation schemes.

"There are no realistic budgetary measures for Gozo. Conversely, there have not been enough funds allocated for the proposed schemes."

The PN leader called for the Gozo voters to voice their disapproval to the government and its lack of schemes, in the upcoming MEP election.

Also present was PN MEP David Casa who said that the majority of European MEPs are against the sale of the Maltese and EU identity.

"Many European deputies, including Socialists and Greens, are against the sale of the European citizenship. They have realised that the scheme would post numerous permutations that would have adverse effects on the EU," the MEP argued.

Casa also said that following the government approving the amendments to the Citizenship Act, French MEP Joseph Daul is set to hold at a debate on the European citizenship. Following Marlene Farrugia's criticism of the IIP, the PN MEP called for Labour MPs to voice their honest opinion about the citizenship scheme and vote against it in parliament.

More from Daniel Mizzi

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The discussion on the Individual Investor Programme has not as yet delved into the meaning of citizenship . Citizenship cannot be reduced to a commodity which is bought and sold. It has taken thousands of years for the Maltese people to constitute itself as an independent state and so such an achievement cannot be thrown away at the stroke of a pen. There are many peoples in the world who have not achieved this status , so the Maltese people should not take this matter lightly.It is a sign of political immaturity on the part of Joseph Muscat who believes that Maltese citizenship can be acquired by a foreign person on a payment of a sum of money without this person having a relation to Malta and the Maltese. It is a greater sign of immaturity on the part of those at the University and in the legal profession who for one reason or another have not spoken as yet to crtiticise IIP or have tried to minimize the damage that IIP will do to Malta, if the scheme is enacted into law without amendments. Citizenship is the bond between the individual person and the state and so may be said to constitute Malta as an independent and sovereign country. It follows from this that citizenship cannot be reduced to a money relation. Maltese citizenship has only existed for 49 years after hundred of years of struggle and so we should not let a Johnny come lately to give it away Coming to the here and now ,It is now clear that although the granting of citizenship is a competence of the National government and therefore the EU institutions as such cannot interfere in our discretion,we as members of the EU and of the Schengen area will - by granting Maltese citizenship to non-EU nationals - be imparting to them freedom of movement in the EU and unhindered access at the internal borders of the Schengen area - with no passport and immigration controls .This is a serious matter, if citizenship is granted on the conditions set by IIP and is bound to cause disparaging and humiliating remarks with respect to Malta and our institutions in the foreign media . Moreover it is planned that the issue of citizenship will also be discussed in the EU Parliament.In this regard I appeal to the 2 main political parties to find a compromise within the course of the next few days so that Malta will not be confronted with another round of humiliating remarks during the forthcoming debate in the EU Parliament. Malta deserves better.

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Notwithstanding the meetings between the Government and the Opposition to reach a consensus for the implementation of the IIP scheme, agreement will never reached because the leader of the opposition already declared "the Opposition is still committed to implement its proposed amendments". When is Dr Simon Busuttil going to put it into his head that his party is in opposition and not in government?

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If therte is anyone whop is tarnishing Maslta's Reputation is Dr Simon Busuttil who even went on an Italiasn TV to continuie hisv malòicious criotisism of the IIP scheme and his pal David Casa at Brussels. Iz-zejt ghad jitla f'wicc l-ilma u it-tnejn li huma jkollom imorru jinhbew

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The Opposition leader would do well to keep quiet and let the Government get on with it's job. This Government is proving beyond any shadow of a doubt what good business acumen they have. They are maximising the yield from an asset. In this instance the asset is access to the EU through a Maltese passport. The upside for Malta ? Potentially significantly reduced national debt which in turn will enable Government to divert money in better hospitals , lower taxes and better roads as opposed to lining the pockets of banks in the process of paying the national interest bill.

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il kuntradizzjonijiet ta dan il bniedem ma jitwemnux illum hareg bl ahhar wahda qal li l-opozzizjoni lest tilhaq consensuss imma mhux se jicaqalqu pulzier ! imma dan min fejn qlajtuh ? x rigal fuq platt tad dheb tghajtu lil PL !

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MIN IRRID JITKELLEM fuq min qieghed ihammeg isem Malta! Hu qieghed ihammeg isem Malta ....ghax dan kollhu ma hax il-kuntratt l'Ufficcju ta' Zammit Dimech! Altru milli interess Nazzjonali ! Interessi tal Partit Nazzjonalista zgur ! Ghalhekk qieghed joggezzjona SIMON BUSUTTIL fuq IIP scheme ... ghax ma hax il-kuntratt l'Ufficcju ta' Zammit Dimech http://www.maltatoday.com.mt/en/newsdetails/news/courtandpolice/Rival-bidder-for-lucrative-citizenship-programme-files-civil-case-20131031

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Trid tkun veru a simple leader biex minghalik iccekken lil gvern bi hsara kontra pajjizek barra minnu, u ma tirrealizzax il-hsara irreparabbli li agir bhal dak ikun ghamel lejn il-partit tieghu. Possibbli l-ebda strategista fi hdan il-PN ma jigbed l-ebda attenzjoni. Hadd ma jinsa' l-ghajta mill-qalb ta' kull min hadem ghal gid ta' pajjizna: Malta l-ewwel u qabel kollox

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fejn kontu meta betu malta kemm iddikutatu meta betu ilmid mid bank il power station kemm thaqtu b nies issa idulna min sejjer jerfa irrisoonsabilta ta mater dejn

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As if we do;t know the connections you and others who are pulling your strings have with the international media. Back to the 70's and 80's PN destabilization program.

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Qed nisthajjel lil Simon dak il-hmar b'xedd ta' ljun fuqu biex minghalih ibezza. Waqt li Simon qed imaqdar din l-iskema aktar pajjizi fl-EU qed jaddottaw skemi simili. L-ahhar pajjiz hu l-Ungerija li qed joffri skema li b'mitejn elf euru tiehu c-cittadinanza Ungeriza. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2225339/Hungary-offer-wealthy-foreigners-citizenship-return-investment.html Cipru, Spanja, il-Portugal, il-Bulgarija, l-Awstrija kollha ghandhom jew qed jikkunsidraw skemi fejn persuni barra l-EU jistghu jakkwistaw cittadinanza ta pajjiz Ewropew. Meta aktar pajjizi tal-EU jaddottaw xi skema simili, forsi Simon jistembah u jwahhal fil-gvern li dam biex lesta din l-iskema.

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Xmun tal burden sharing the only times malta was a universal laughing stock was when you swallowed hook line and swinger the burden sharing and when you appointed wheeler dealer as an EU commissioner john dalli and then not even lifted a finger to clear malta's name when the 60 million bribe story surfaced ,not to mention when you put forward the next commissioner, a FUNDAMENTALIST. None of the whole EU population wanted to believe his stance against the right of divorce.....so go back to your hibernation mode.PS talking of laughing stock how long ago was it when you were booed and jeered xmun?

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Ok understood Simon. And now can u tell me who of you all is going to shoulder mater dei responsability of tarnishing tax payers money.?

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Poor Xmun, he believes we cannot read for ourselves, especially the names of "reporters" to foreign media. What a sorry political ignoramus this Xmun is turning out to be.