Hang your heads in shame, you corrupt scum. Headline news in de Volkskrant (the Netherlands newspaper of record) this morning: ‘MALTESE CITIZENSHIP FOR SALE FOR SIX BIG ONES’
Maltese Citizenship for Sale for Six Big ones (an Agence France Presse report) – and all this because the Labour Party needs to repay its debts and promises to those who bankrolled its rise to power.
Such corruption. THIS is corruption.
In Britain, Tony Blair’s minister Peter Mandelson was forced to resign after he made a phone call putting in a good word for a British passport for a millionaire Indian Conservative Party donor who had lived in Britain for years.
And here they are doing it wholesale. And being the Labour Party and with no feeling for or understanding of democracy and accountability to the public, via parliament or the press, they brazenly-facedly make it the law to keep the names secret. So that we will never find out or make the link between their shady bankrolling and favours owed and the citizenships they sell – or give away. For let’s face it – with the system taken right out of the hands of civil servants as it is now, and put into the covert hands of a commercial company, politicians and their appointees, there is nothing to stop them actually giving away citizenship as favours to those to whom they are indebted. And forget even the selling.
‘Artists shocked at museum decision’ – oh, indeed. THIS is shocking: this level of corruption, this forced-through significant law without an electoral mandate, this violation of people’s will, this scant regard for the consequences, the lengths to which the Labour Party will go to obtain financing to attain and keep power.
We would have had more respect for those ‘shocked artists’ if they had raised their voices about this issue, if they had been protesting outside parliament with those young people. What makes artists relevant is their involvement with current issues, and not their involvement with themselves.
Oh, the irony. Joseph Muscat takes money from China to make propaganda. With that propaganda, he sells himself to these ‘shocked artists’. They begin selling Muscat to others (the sect effect). He gets into power and the ‘shocked artists’ are shocked to discover that it is China and and the Maltese intermediaries who are running the show, and not they. How stupid can you get. Allow me to write this in capital letters: TOOLS.
68 Comments Comment
Reply to albona Click here to cancel reply
http://www.volkskrant.nl/vk/nl/2668/Buitenland/article/detail/3543877/2013/11/13/Te-koop-voor-6-ton-burgerschap-in-Malta.dhtml
Excepting voters who may have had a genuine gripe against the previous government and the rest who were born plain stupid or Labour, which is almost the political equivalent thereof, the 36,000 vote majority (18,000 people) represents primarily those who wanted their pound of flesh.
They will all be disappointed when that like learn that like Shylock, they will not be allowed a single drop of blood. All that is, except for the party apparatchiks and the financiers, who helped pull it off.
Sorry but I don’t agree with part of what you say.
Voting in this rubbish just because one has a ‘genuine gripe’ is plain stupid. Who hasn’t some form of gripe or personal grudge? I prefer to keep mine, which thanks to one of Gonzi’s minions has cost me dearly, to myself. But it hardly impinged on my choice of vote.
My only consolation is that like many other high-ranked government officials of the previous administration who managed to damage the PN while in power this guy was shown the door next day Labour were elected.
Google Translate:
Photo caption: An American Navy ship in Valetta, the capital of Malta. On board migrants from Africa who are picked up at sea. They tried with rubber boats to reach the EU.
Text:
Residents from outside the European Union who want to be a citizen in Malta, must fork out. Parliament Tuesday approved the plan to citizenship of the island in the Mediterranean Sea to sell for 650,000 euros. .
It is intended that the plan for revenue and attracts people who can invest in the island. Premier Joseph Muscat estimates that it produces the State coffers some 30 million euros in the first year, assuming that about 45 people buy a citizenship. They can also be in the other 28 other EU countries working and living.
The nationalist party, which is in the opposition, is fiercely against the plan. Opposition leader Simon Busuttil warns that Malta will be compared with tax havens in the Caribbean. He does not rule out the possibility that he is going to try to come up with the plan for a referendum
In keeping with your article a few days ago about not wanting to say ‘I told you so’ please refer to my comment of the 08/11/2013 on suffrage being an intrinsic part of citizenship:
albona says:
November 9, 2013 at 1:04 pm
Daphne, how many votes do you think the socialists will have bought thanks to this scheme by the time of the next election?
Could we assume around 2000? Ultimately in a country where 500 votes wins elections, this is not insignificant.
The beneficiaries of this citizenship scheme will obviously have a vested interest in voting PL come next election.
The PN may also cotton on to this, subsequently changing their stance on renouncing citizenship. That could be the only way of winning the next election. If they do not do this they may come up short come election time.
[Daphne – Why do you assume they will have the right to vote?]
http://daphnecaruanagalizia.com/2013/11/its-bad-form-to-say-i-told-you-so-but-at-this-stage-i-dont-really-care/
http://www.independent.com.mt/articles/2013-11-13/news/secret-citizens-eligible-to-vote-3173777415/
Censa says:
November 9, 2013 at 2:15 pm
My thoughts exactly.
Reply
albona says:
November 9, 2013 at 9:07 pm
One of the most fundamental rights that citizenship confers on the citizen is the right to vote. Rules regarding the right to vote (for example South Africans can vote regardless of how long they have resided abroad I believe) vary by country.
At the moment Malta does not allow overseas voters — or at least restrictions apply — and I am not sure how easy it would be to change that.
However, they could introduce voting at embassies, who knows. Frankly, I can’t be bothered checking. However, just to reiterate my point, the right to vote and the right to parliamentary representation is intrinsically linked to citizenship.
http://daphnecaruanagalizia.com/2013/11/its-bad-form-to-say-i-told-you-so-but-at-this-stage-i-dont-really-care/
I am Maltese living in the UK and I am not allowed to vote in Malta though I can vote here in Britain.
However seeing this morning’s headline about the fact that these new citizens will be allowed to vote brought back into context the government’s call a few weeks back for all Maltese abroad to volunteer to register on some portal on the pretext that in an emergency the government knows how many of its citizens are where.
It is more likely that the government is trying to work out if they should allow Maltese abroad to vote how many passports will they have to pimp out to ensure a PL victory.
Austria’s number one news channel has a similar story:
http://orf.at/#/stories/2206149/
Truly shameful.
Austria’s top news paper has it:
http://diepresse.com/home/politik/eu/1475839/Malta_EUStaatsbuergerschaft-fuer-650000-Euro?_vl_backlink=/home/index.do
http://derstandard.at/1381371758348/Malta-verkauft-EU-Staatsbuergerschaft-fuer-650000-Euro
Joseph Muscat always said that THE END JUSTIFIES THE MEANS. So why are the switchers complaining? They voted for this vile person.
If they get the right to vote, how will they do so if they need to be on the electoral register?
My fear is that the secrecy of it all means they are still going to vote in secret. If he rolled over people with this citizenship law how many more laws can he make against the people’s will. We must act NOW before is to late to reverse this law.
I hope that the switchers, at least those who are honest and have been deceived, are beating their chests right now.
http://www.kleinezeitung.at/nachrichten/politik/3465698/malta-verkauft-staatsbuergerschaft-fuer-650-000-euro.story
Please check the comments on this.
Nachbrenner is calling for the expulsion of Malta from the EU.
It’s also on the homepage of Der Spiegel (http://www.spiegel.de/) (right under the news about the typhoon in the Philippines) and Die Zeit, also among the top few items (http://www.zeit.de/index). So sad.
http://www.n-tv.de/politik/Malta-will-Staatsbuergerschaften-verkaufen-article11717806.html
Here in the first sentence if I got it translated correctly it is being called as a banal idea.
http://translate.google.com/translate?u=http://www.volkskrant.nl/vk/nl/2668/Buitenland/article/detail/3543877/2013/11/13/Te-koop-voor-6-ton-burgerschap-in-Malta.dhtml&sandbox=0&usg=ALkJrhgSW56hVct-gUN-5Vndz-XRx3HYYw
I also must add that both Der Spiegel and die Zeit emphasise the fact that it is EU citizenship that is being sold. Mortifying indeed.
These new paying Maltese citizens will be more privileged Maltese than the rest of us precisely because they know who we are and we have no idea who they are. Joseph Muscat is making us into lesser Maltese even before he sells our country down the river. Think about it.
The foreign ministry has recently announced a voluntary register scheme for Maltese expats living and working abroad.
A good word of advice: do not even bother filling in any registration forms. In the future a scheme shall be introduced that obliges Maltese expats to declare their income earned overseas.
Remember Joseph Muscat’s trip to Dubai last summer?
http://9tv.co.il/news/2013/11/13/162745.html
Funny how only the Russian papers went into the details of the scheme and this one even worked out the value for a family of five for the benefit of its readers. I wonder why.
Does anyone remember Muscat making a scene at the European Parliament when he realized that there was no Maltese translator? Well let me refresh your memory;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7HsYZMs8JDU
Where has all the patriotism gone?
Unfortunately the real Muscat is the one who selling Malta’s soul for favors and money, and not the one stomping his feet because he can’t speak his mother language at an EU parliamentary session.
Let’s all shout together ‘What the hell?’
Missejna il-qiegh wara biss 8 xhur.
The news is also making the rounds in Germany.
http://www.spiegel.de/politik/ausland/malta-verkauft-staatsbuergerschaft-fuer-650-000-euro-a-933279.html
Check out the front page of this German newspaper:
http://www.spiegel.de/politik/ausland/malta-verkauft-staatsbuergerschaft-fuer-650-000-euro-a-933279.html
http://www.welt.de/politik/ausland/article121835954/Malta-bietet-Staatsbuergerschaft-fuer-650-000-Euro.html
and:
http://www.spiegel.de/politik/ausland/malta-verkauft-staatsbuergerschaft-fuer-650-000-euro-a-933279.html
and here:
http://www.sueddeutsche.de/politik/parlamentsbeschluss-malta-verkauft-staatsbuergerschaften-1.1817200
Doesn’t it just warm the cockles of your heart to see Malta’s name in the international news for the wrong reasons, AGAIN?
I think burgerschap means citizenship but the first thing that came to mind was that they are referring to Joseph Muscat as the “(ham)burger chap of Malta”.
We’re on the Stern too.
http://www.stern.de/panorama/malta-bietet-an-werden-sie-eu-buerger-fuer-650000-euro-2070878.html
How utterly embarrassing to hear this on Dutch radio news every hour this morning and probably on the news tonight.
Shame on the Labour government. Not that they can ever feel shame. Malta’s reputation damaged in the blink of an eye.
If this is not twisted, then I’m twisted. It is absurd how die-hard Labourites ignore the logical fallacy of publishing a 170-page electoral manifesto, including the distribution of tablets to students and delivering medicines at doorsteps (if and when available) and not stating this sale of citizenship scheme, which has been long devised as a mechanism to fund the Labour Party and its government projects.
This is an amoral and immoral scheme. Why does the Prime Minister not advise Greece, Italy, Portugal, Spain, France and all EU member states facing recession to do the same as he? He’d be a hero, possibly ‘Is-Salvatur ta’ l-Eurozone’.
5 questions. One minute. Please complete this survey about selling Maltese citizenship:
https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/8BFJVY9
Responses are anonymous.
Another news source reports:
http://euobserver.com/tickers/122090
One should draw up a list of how this scheme is being advertised abroad, and the international reactions to it. This would show what image of our country Prime Minister, Joseph Muscat, is projecting abroad.
A good reputation should not be compromised for cash.
A rough google translation of Austria’s Die Presse article with comments from readers below:
http://translate.google.com/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&js=n&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Fdiepresse.com%2Fhome%2Fpolitik%2Feu%2F1475839%2FMalta_EUStaatsbuergerschaft-fuer-650000-Euro%3F_vl_backlink%3D%2Fhome%2Findex.do&act=url
Daphne could you please clarify this voting business? Will these new citizens have a right to vote or not?
As far as I know having a Maltese passport is not enough. One must have been living in Malta for a certain period of time to be eligible to vote. I know various Maltese who have been abroad for a number of years and have lost the right to vote because of this. They have a Maltese passport but still cannot vote.
Probably a party in government that found a way to drop a government case against itself, can find a way to waiver a couple of insignificant prerequisites for admission to an electoral register.
Assuming the Opposition has enough time to analyse and filter out those on the register through this scheme, it will still take them ages to contest it.
The Opposition should make this one of its main points from now till next election and pull all the strings it can to find out who the individuals are. Not easy considering that PL has put its henchmen in full control.
http://markanthonysammut.blogspot.com/2013/11/top-comment-on-citizenship-for-sale-law.html
‘FOOLS’
Hi Daphne, I’m a Belgian journalist working on EU affairs. I’m interested in this. Could you please get in touch, as I would like to ask you a few questions?
Can’t the EU rein in Muscat on this one, why the deafening silence from Brussels?
That’s not a US naval vessel but an AFM one.
And “ton” is the equivalent of “grand”, multiplied by one hundred. So “six hundred grand”. Notice the pointed use of a certain kind of language here. The Maltese as spivs. The Maltese as the chavs who’ll sell their own mothers.
Truly, it is Mulej hudni.
Oh and: Daphne, this country needs you more than ever.
Irrespective of what the law says about the right to vote for these new anonymous citizens, it is on record that according to Joseph Muscat they will be given the right to vote.
I am under the impression that you can vote only if you are on the electoral register and have a registered address in Malta. So how can a person buying citizenship, not residing in Malta vote? However I do not think this right is high on the buyers’ list.
Read this:
http://www.nestmann.com/frank-facts-about-the-new-malta-passport-program#.UoOTSs3Qxmk
Swiss daily newspaper – Tages Anzeiger
http://www.tagesanzeiger.ch/ausland/europa/Fuer-800-000-Franken-Buerger-von-Malta-werden/story/28481770
A. Vella
Zurich, Switzerland
Do you agree with selling Malta’s citizenship?
5 quick questions: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/8BFJVY9
Please complete and circulate.
Responses are anonymous.
http://www.independent.com.mt/articles/2013-11-13/news/mep-metsola-brings-brussels-in-on-cash-for-passports-scandal-3178233856/
http://malta-golden-passport.com/
Come one, come all.
This is a scammer’s website. He won’t be the only one. Bees to the honey, flies to the corpse.
Sirna d-dahqa tad-dinja. Addio l-isem tajjeb li Malta kisbet.
Seeing that this act is nothing short of betraying one’s country, can one sue the entire government for treason?
Gabna l-qahba tal-Mediterran. F’hekk biss jifhmu.
Malta – il-qahba tal-Ewropa f’nofs il-Mediterran. Is-Strata Stretta ta’ dan is-seklu.
Skond Joseph Muscat taht gvernijiet Nazzjonalista inghataw 6000+ cittadinanza Maltija.
Nesa jsemmi li fosthom hemm Sai Mizzi li flok hallset 650,000 Euro zzewwget lil Konrad u qeda tithallas biex toqghod komda f’pajjizha, u Codruta Mallia li flok hallset 650,000 Euro qeda torqod komda fuq saqqu mimli b’500,000 Euro.
Prosit, George Grech
Malta hit the world headlines today. Unfortunately, it is for the wrong reasons.
How appropriate for the Prime Minister to choose November for the assassination of our citizenship. The month we mourn and remember our loved ones will in future be the month we also mourn and remember our precious citizenship.
I suspect that the Labour apologists will be glad to see this headline.
http://www.maltatoday.com.mt/en/newsdetails/news/national/European-Commission-Malta-has-full-sovereignty-on-how-to-grant-citizenship-20131113
However, I believe that, if anything, the reference by the spokesman of the Commission to the decisions of the European Court of Justice which confirm the Member States’ sovereignty on granting citizenship, means that, equally, Member States have the sovereignty to withdraw citizenship.
The PN should start collecting signatures for a referendum. If enough signatures are collected, the referendums on sale of citizenship and on the abolition of spring hunting could be held on the same day.
Going through passport control is going to be an interesting experience again.
Daphne your reference to the Peter Mandelson case is spot on. All through these discussions Mohammed Al Fayed keeps coming to mind. The longtime owner of Harrods has been trying to obtain British citizenship for decades and still has not been granted that privilege for one reason or another.
I wonder whether Malta’s due diligence would accept his application seeing that he fits all the requirements listed in these discussions. He has a lot of talent. And where would that put our diplomatic relations with the British?
Likewise I am sure there are similar situations with other EU brothers of ours.
And remember that Al Fayed has invested millions and millions in the U.K. and has been residing in Britain for years on end. Still British citizenship escapes him.
I would presume he possesses slightly more than 650,000 measly euros to enable him to get a European passport thanks to Malta.
Since He is God, I do not know who we’d ask whether it is possible.
I am pleased that I have dual Maltese British citizenship, I have not renewed my Maltese passport for over five years now, there is no point, now even more so.
Give someone a bad name – and throw him to the dogs.
Hekk ser jigrilha Malta (kemm taghhom u kemm taghna).
TOOLS , FOOLS and STOOLS
Manuel Hoer Burgerschap.
Gotta love the Dutch.