You don’t need ‘evidence’, but rational assessment
I’m flagging up this comment and my reply because it is really, really draining watching people make the same mistakes over and over again.
They look for ‘evidence’ – in other words, they want to be told the conclusion so that they don’t have to reach it for themselves – when what they should be using is rational assessment.
This means drawing intelligent and informed conclusions FOR THEMSELVES from what they observe about the situation and above all, about the individuals involved.
However, I have decided not to despair.
Posted my Tom:
You say the government will sell thousands of passports, what evidence is there to back this comment up with?
My reply (I kept it brief):
If you work for a business company, Tom, pop down to the relevant department and ask them how they accumulate evidence on sales projections. But in brief: demand for cheap EU passports with no strings attached is high, supply through Malta is now infinite, there can be no public or parliamentary scrutiny because of the complete secrecy in which these transactions will take place, and those administering the supply show signs, in other areas of their operations, of being unhampered by moral and ethical codes or even foresight (see stance on EU membership). Rational conclusion: thousands of Maltese passports will be sold.
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Tom, you don’t need evidence, just common sense. If people are prepared to die trying to get into Europe, their richer counterparts will pay for the privilege.
I think the most salient fact is that the government is going out of its way to hide the evidence in the first place.
If thousands of Maltese passports will be sold in secret then does that not mean that there will be thousands of “secret” votes for the Labour Party? Just imagine that…
What is the Auditor General’s and the Ombudsman’s position on the wholesale issue of passports in general and the complete secrecy shrouding this marketing operation in particular? Can somebody please shed some light on the responsibility of these two bodies on this matter, if any exist?
Bones Series 9 Episode 7 @ 00:24:14
“In 1945 president Peron sent 10,000 blank passports to the Nazis offering citizenship…… its our shame”
Is this the fate of the Maltese to bear the shame of our leaders’ sins? To forever be defined in the media as a gateway, host and accomplice to war criminals, drug lords, fraudsters and human traffickers just to name a few. People who thrive on hate and greed, whose only talent is their ability to survive and prosper with total disregard of the lives they destroy in the process. Don’t we have enough scum of our own to deal with we are now going to invite more over for tea?
The Argentinean Perons allegedly made a fortune by selling blank passports to Nazis gaining more than sufficient funding to guarantee themselves re-election. Sounds familiar? Whether they gained financially or not, the Perons condemned Argentina to forever be defined as a safehouse for Nazi thieves, torturers and killers. The Perons provided Nazis with new names, allowed them to invest in the country and prosper at the expense of their own people. When the truth came to light, as it one day always does for there will always be Daphnes in this world, these Nazis still found protection from extradition. Money, power and having friends in the right places has always been a winning combination that allows these kind of people to survive at the detriment of the likes of you and me who are not ‘in’.
It seems that history is about to repeat itself with our own set of Perons who have been inspired by more than just Evita’s hairstyle and attire. However, while Evita’s European tour was instrumental in the success of their passport program for friends with cash the Maltese Mrs Peron doesn’t seem to have the necessary skill set and/or maybe her husband’s trust. Well we will just have to wait and see whether she will get to bloom but I wouldn’t hold your breath if I was you. Meanwhile one must assume that her taste in handbags must be very expensive indeed to warrant such disregard for human life. For there are evil people in this world who will always prey on the corruptible.
The Perons’ legacy is a country with one economic crisis after the other where rules constantly change. Now that is one hell of a future to look forward to. Could we ever find a better gift for our children this Christmas?
The quantity of passports sold is inconsequential cause the very law to put these passports on sale is badly written and created to satisfy a particular need: a need which only Muscat & his circle know and which we can only guess.
Even if no passports are sold, the law as proposed by the government is wrong.
All you can give them are facts, they must provide the apparatus to deal with them.
You only need a Maltese passport as a gateway into Europe. None of them are interested in living in Malta anyway.
It only gives them freedom of movement within the EU and rights to set up a household anywhere with no questions asked.
They could spend 5 years living in Britain as Maltese citizens, and then be naturalised as UK citizens through a relatively simple process.
Whether a future PN government withraws the passports or not wouldn’t matter if they have been naturalised elsewhere.
For Malta to shaft the rest of the EU this way is not collegiate, but then again, this country is being run by the man and his cronies who fought tooth and nail to keep us out, and they see this as a way of getting back at the EU probably.
Worrying.
Could it be that in the future, there will be more unknown new Maltese citizens than actual Malta born and bred Maltese?
Malta Taghna Lkoll? more like Malta mhi taghna xejn!
Conclusions are readily served up on Times of Malta; isn’t this [spoon-feeding] what the people want? Let them be fooled then.
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20131107/local/drastic-reduction-in-out-of-stock-medicines.493653#.Unt1Nfmsh8E
It’s fairly clear that the IIP scheme will be suspended within the first few months. As soon as the scheme is passed in parliament the EU will be down on Malta like a ton of bricks, far more severely that it did with Montenegro which was merely on the Schengen white-list and not an EU member.
I’m sure that Henley are aware of this, which probably explains their hurry to entice buyers long before the scheme is approved in parliament. I predict that they will have done 90% of their business within the first month. Muscat knows this as well, he knows he can’t go against the EU, especially when so many of the schemes introduced in the last budget are EU-funded. He also knows that without the EU, those passports are worthless.
He’s taken a leaf out of his master’s manual: resorting to brinkmanship to get one-off cash injections, none of which will be used for any actual economic growth. He can’t squeeze money out of the cold war, so he has to resort to other forms of prostitution.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2388669/75-arrested-human-trafficking-gang-charged-Chinese-people-40-000-smuggle-Europe.html
Enough said.
…and for those who think that being a millionaire and a Communist at the same time is impossible, I suggest you follow this link:
http://www.usnews.com/opinion/blogs/world-report/2013/04/30/chinas-communist-billionaires
My favourite bit:
“Many of the super-rich Chinese have gained in a system where there is a strong link between politics, business and corruption. It’s difficult to tell you exactly how many Chinese billionaires there are because they do not want to be found. Chinese billionaires must have political connections to keep their wealth safe, become politicians themselves or acquire foreign citizenships. ”
This is the sort of client Joseph Muscat is after with his Individual Investor Programme.
The only evidence I have seen is that the government wants to keep us in the dark while selling passports to faceless hordes for cash, does not want scrutiny of the cash flows involved, and wants to be applauded for doing all this.
Here is some more evidence for Tom.
1. There is nothing in the law and the scheme stopping the Maltese government from selling thousands of passports.
2. Henley & Patners is paid by the Maltese government on a COMMISSION BASIS, per passport sold, and therefore they have an incentive to sell as many passports as possible in order to maximise their commissions. The commission basis in a system lacking transparency could also trigger the sale of fictitious passports, where the income is potentially not from individuals but lump sum grants from states or other sources that may be illegal. Who is going to identify fictitious passports if the holders of passports issued under the scheme are a state secret? They could of course be identified once an investigation into the scheme can be launched, but that will not happen under a Labour government.
In fact, besides withdrawing all passports issued under the scheme, the PN should also promise that once returned to government, it will launch a public investigation into the operation of the scheme from its inception – if necessary in front of Parliament.
http://edition.cnn.com/2013/11/06/world/asia/china-labor-camp-halloween-sos/index.html
Blimey
Gut feeling is always underrated by people who lack common sense
The absence of rational thinking and analytical judgment is part of the Maltese set-up. It is a result of the way children have been brought up over generations, and stems principally from the educational system and the domination of political parties and the church over the society.
People in Malta are generally intellectually lazy and prefer to be told ‘the truth’ rather than seek the real truth for themselves. They get their news from Facebook or village gossip (both are very similar) rather than looking things up properly.
This lack of interest in news analysis is primarily the result of the education system. In school, subjects are taught for the exam and not for the pleasure of learning. Students memorize the contents of books without thinking. Discussions are absent at university (almost not allowed), let alone in schools. Teachers talk down to students rather than engaging them in an analytical conversation.
The same goes for the church and duttrina. The Bible is imposed rather than discussed. Children are not allowed to question anything, even the most ludicrous teachings. The analytical part of the brain does not develop when it should, in childhood, and after that it is too late.
All this benefits certain strata of society who then behave in a paternalistic way with those even more intellectually undeveloped than they are. Look at the way Joseph Muscat explains the budget in the kitchen to slack-mouthed electors. Look at the way priests deliver their sermons on Sunday.
Is short-termism something inherently Labour? Today I read the Bank of Valletta chairman’s comments re guarantee of deposits with banks. He claimed this system is not solid at all – basically telling people your savings aren’t safe.
I think this is a very insensitive, risky comment by Mr Cassar White. He is not simply a bank chairman; but is a government appointee.
Typical Labour short-termist view: his comment is intended to harm the smaller banks, currently offering double the interest rates compared to BOV.
But in doing so he is harming the banking sector as a whole. A sector which brings good business and 4000 jobs to our economy.
And they could all become entitled to vote.
And they would all vote PL, especially since the PN have declared that they would repeal all IIP citizenships when (if) in power.
Article 57(c) of the Constitution becomes relevant.
U jekk kollox ha jkun sigriet, u ismijiet xejn, kif ha jaghmel gvern differenti biex jirtira dawn il-passaporti?
Jistaw dawn il-passaporti johorgu fuq isem falz ukoll, li taghmilhom mhux ovvji, f’kas ta ricerka?
Ghax mur ara x’ bicca xoghol trid tiehu biex tfittex fuq kull passaport li ha johrog minn issa sa elezzjoni tal-anqas ohra.
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20131107/local/no-cap-on-the-number-who-can-buy-citizenship-henley.493749#.UnutMfmfhcg
So pretty much confirmed. “In the low hundreds” annually, over a five year period, would probably be well over a thousand, if not several.
And you will be proven perfectly right Daphne, thousands will be sold Henley will be the better off for it
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20131107/local/no-cap-on-the-number-who-can-buy-citizenship-henley.493749#.UnuzaeJWSbY
“There will be no annual cap on the number of people who can buy Maltese citizenship through the proposed Individual Investor Programme, the CEO of Henley and Partners, Eric Major, said today.
He said he would be disappointed if the annual number of beneficiaries was not “in the low hundreds”, adding that the Government was minded to increase the price if there was strong market interest.”
Muscat has struck snake oil, and in true Labour fashion, ignores anyone who points this out because a) he will have to admit he’s stupid and b) it will just prove that Labour can’t be anything but stupid.
But we don’t need him to admit it, because everything about the Labour Party and Muscat has become self-evident in this one act.
He must have a very low opinion of his nationality and in fact the nation and its people if he thinks he can just sell it to the world. This seemingly infinite product will flood the world and every fraudster, criminal and possibly even terrorist can get their hands on one.
And I don’t use the word terrorist to scare people; this scheme is being advertised in Pakistan, where Bin Laden was hiding. I think it’s a possibility. Malta, the small and generally ignored country of Europe which is constantly above suspicion simply because of our size has often been the hide-out of choice for many criminals precisely because of this reputation we generally have.
I don’t mean to say that all citizenship schemes bring these types of people, but this one specifically will because there are no mechanisms in place to protect the country from them.
We can also see the ignorance and short-sightedness of the Labour Party, not to mention its complete lack of imagination, in how this will work. Other schemes are about the individual having to create wealth and jobs in the country, giving that country long-term benefits.
When the PL say that the applicants will be investing in Malta what they mean is they will be giving Malta 650,000 euros and that’s it.
Yes, it will be a one-off payment and it all ends there. They will then be free to do what they like and not even set foot in Malta, ever.
Muscat doesn’t even love his country enough to attract people who will benefit it; he just wants their money, and not much of it at that. When Muscat says they will be investing in the country what he means is they will be giving us that one-off payment.
His assumption that this is an infinite commodity that he can keep on selling is also the definition of folly. Nothing is infinite; we live in a finite world. This unsinkable plan will sink. In fact, whenever people say the words “It will go on forever” I always think that is the main sign that it will soon end.
When it comes to undervaluing our nationality, Muscat really takes the biscuit. It’s a bit like an attractive woman realising she can make money by attracting rich men to have sex with her rather than making money in a prudent way and accomplishing things which will in the end make her money of her own.
Only the rich men will see her as a whore, they will not love her or care for her and they will ditch her as soon as they can, or as soon as she is no longer 21. She will live with her reputation and fall into the usual traps that come from undervaluing oneself.
Much like that woman, Malta’s attractiveness will decline, respect will be lost and self-worth and value will disappear. Not even the Maltese will hold their nationality in high esteem.
But I fear another problem. What say we do attract some wealthy people and they actually do come to Malta to live. Malta does not have a selfmade uber rich class. Sure there are the wealthy, but not the type of wealth that these people have. These new wealthy individuals will waltz in and take the position of the rich classes of Malta before any Maltese person ever makes it themselves.
And these people, who have no relationship to any Maltese people, will stand in the way of those working to improve their already successful standing in society, which they have achieved through hard work and talent.
By allowing such wealthy people into the country, I believe we will be bringing the stonewall, a glass ceiling, past which no Maltese person will be able to break through. And these rich people will keep the Maltese down, they will have huge demands and make the Maltese provide them pushing us into lower paid jobs (because of course they’ll want to make a profit, and come on you’re Maltese and therefore not worth that much) while they stubbornly occupy the top places we haven’t even created for ourselves.
This is all just one big disaster, and we must put a stop to it.
The whole operation is tailor-made for crooks, hence the secrecy. And crooks have lots of money and require phoney passports for obvious reasons.
No decent country would deny information to its own people and parliament about who is being sold citizenship. No decent country carries out covert operations on its own citizens.
Therefore I agree that the response will be substantial.
It might very well be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
The government is rushing its implementation not because it fears that other EU countries will emulate it.
The rush is certainly because the scheme might run into legal and other obstacles both locally and at EU level.
Before this happens I suspect that several hundreds if not thousands will be sold.
There’s a TED talk by Charain Gooch of Global Witness that’s interesting and indirectly related to sale of Maltese passports.
No cap on the number of people who can buy Maltese citizenship – Henley (Times of Malta)
Dear Tom, do you need evidence…. after it happens ? Or would you prefer it not happening in the first place?
What is wrong with some people?!
This scheme opens so many loopholes its going to be a game of whack a mole trying to get the criminals out.
Companies could sponsor one person to become a maltese citizen to shift their money in and out of malta.
Check 1:20…. If the scheme is popular… hey why not bump up the price… or bump up the cost . ( of course.. their commission !)
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20131107/local/no-cap-on-the-number-who-can-buy-citizenship-henley.493749#.UnvIfHDbOT4
The PN should force a referendum to abrogate this law. It shouldn’t be a problem to collect 30,000 signatures in a couple of months.
Spot on, as usual. It explains the mental process which led someone I thought was ‘balanced’ to ask the shocking question about Raymond Caruana’s political murder in the 1980s: ‘How do you know it wasn’t a Nationalist supporter who shot at the Gudja PN club, killing Rayond Caruana?’
Just heard on .net … an advert appeared on a Russian magazine stating that a 70% discount will be given if a family of 5 buys Maltese passports.
The Government has no mandate to sell passports but Joseph Muscat thinks he can bulldoze his way through Parliament and impose what is probably the most unpopular law of the last several years.
We can fight back.
https://fbcdn-sphotos-f-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/1453530_527643583992916_1556002122_n.jpg
These new Maltese citizens will have access to free healthcare and education in Malta, if they live here.
And there you have it from the horses mouth – Henley expect 200-300 to be sold yearly (probably that’s on the low side)
Talking about rationality, could someone please help dispel this absurd myth that Mintoff loved his country and would have never dreamed of selling Malta.
Mintoff allied Malta with the worst possible dictators known to the world back then, and eventually, sold Malta’s soul backed by his fanatics who remain a curse and an affliction on this doomed rock.
Mintoff was a sociopath and so is Muscat. Both lack/ed feeling or any ability to empathise with those around them. Both are/were driven by money and self-aggrandizement.
It’s out of this world to listen to PN MPs bringing forth the argument that Mintoff wouldn’t agree with the cheap sale of passports. They should know better. It is exactly the kind of thing Mintoff would have done.
A man who sold Malta to Gaddafi in exchange for financial help when he screwed up over the closure of the British military base would sell his mother for a song and to hell with passports.
PM Joseph Muscat and FM Edward Scicluna show Euro 15,000,000 revenue from the Grand Malta Passport Sale in the budget estimates, that is roughly 30 passports at 500,000 each nett of Henley commission.
Henley is on record today forecasting sale of 200-300 passports. That makes Euro 150.000.000 revenue to Manuel Mallia’s IIP scheme.
So, is Manuel Mallia retaining direct control over the Euro 135,000,000 balance, after handing over the budgeted 15,000,000 to the consolidated fund? And all under the cover of absolute secrecy assured by the IIP Act?
The IIP has been compared to prostitution of Maltese citizenship by the Joseph Muscat government. That analogy can now be extended to pimping of the worst order at the expense of the Maltese people.
All secrecy regarding the IIP must be put aside. The people are entitled to an immediate, full, and clear explanation of what is going on.
So according to Henley & Partners, they are likely to be selling 250 Maltese passports per annum, one for every business day in a year.
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20131107/local/no-cap-on-the-number-who-can-buy-citizenship-henley.493749
Prime Minister Joseph Muscat will have more than half a million euros coming in from sales of Maltese passports per business day he spends in Castille – assuming the full price per passport. Qabel ir-radda tas-salib, kif nghidu bil-Malti.
This adds up to 1,000 passports in 4 years, and 1,250 in 5 years.
Annual gross value of those passports is euro 163 million.
Henley & Partners will make euro 7 million in commissions and euro 18 million in client fees – a total of euro 25 million per annum.
Over 5 years, the gross value amounts to euro 812 million, and Henley & Partners make euro 120 million.
Over 7 years, the gross value is euro 1.132 million.
When Lawrence Gonzi negotiated euro 1.128 billion of funds from the EU budget for the 7 years from 2014 to 2020, Joseph Muscat’s reaction was “Been there, done that.”
Now I understand what he meant.
But there is an important difference: Lawrence Gonzi did not prostitute Malta and the identity of the Maltese for money.
And all of them will be voting PL so as not to allow a future PN government to reverse the process.
Charming, just charming.
Whose cunning plan is this? Edward, Manuel, Konrad, il-Guy, George or Joseph himself? Difficult one to call. They all hold the EU in contempt. They are all opportunists. Lies don’t seem to faze them. And they LOVE money.
…and in the meantime in Tripoli…
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/africa/2013/11/gun-battles-erupt-libyan-capital-2013117225536671938.html
It is astonishing at what speed this government is causing Malta’s reputation to deteriorate.
’10th July 2013 – Women, men and children seeking refuge in Malta were yesterday at risk of being pushed back to Libya or to be kept in detention. In just a few hours the pressure and mobilization in Malta, Brussels and Geneva halted any unlawful rapid push-back operation initially discussed by the Maltese government. At […]’
http://www.terredeshommes.org/where-we-work/europe/malta/
How can the government hope to keep the names of those acquiring ‘bought’ citizenship secret? Aren’t they supposed to get voting rights, so will they then note be listed in the electoral register?
Once there, it should not be a problem to compare the previous and post electoral register lists and identify the ‘new’ ones after excluding the 18 year old etc. Maybe I’m missing something?
[Daphne – You’re missing a lot. Voting rights are not automatic on the acquisition of citizenship. If that were the case, the many thousands of Australian and Canadian citizens who also hold Maltese passports would be on the electoral roll in Malta. But they are not. That’s because they live in Australia and Canada and not in Malta. Almost none of those who buy Maltese passports will be living in Malta. Their interest is in buying it and moving into somewhere more enticing in the European Union, like Paris or London, or staying where they are, but protected as an EU citizen. In any case, even if you do find a different name on the electoral register, you have no way of knowing whether the person was naturalised by regular means or whether he bought his passport. And children under the age of 18 don’t go onto an electoral roll anyway.]
Numbers have always intrigued me and roused my curiosity. Recent events have given me many numbers to play with.
It started with someone asking, “How much did the election campaign cost the Labour Party and where did the funds come from?” The sum was obviously very high. but no answer was ever given, providing grounds for speculation.
Soon after the election it was revealed that anyone could buy a Maltese passport for 650,000 Euro. Am I the only one who wondered how that figure was arrived at?
It seemed rather a strange number to me. I would have expected a round number in the millions; even Eur750,000 would not have seemed so unusual.
The budget then threw up the figure of Eur15 million as the sum to be generated by the Sale-of-Passports scheme. My mathematical mind worked out that if each passport cost Eur650,000, 23 main applicants were required to raise the sum of Eur15 million.
At this point my suspicious mind took over. What if 23 individuals who needed an alternative passport approached the Labour Party (or maybe the other way round) and offered (or were asked) to contribute a million each with the promise that a passport would be issued when the party was, as expected, elected to government?
That would leave a cool Eur8 million (23 million minus 15 million) for the election campaign and other party expenses.
That would answer the question raised at the beginning of this speculation as well as explain why nothing was said about the passports scheme BEFORE the election and the speed with which the scheme was rushed through AFTER the election.
Well, I’ll get my hat and coat and report myself immediately to a psychiatrist.