British edition of The Financial Times today has an even more worrying front page headline: HOME OFFICE PRESSED TO OPPOSE MALTESE PLAN TO SELL EU PASSPORTS
The Financial Times publishes different editions every day for each region of the world. You have today’s ‘Malta passports’ headlines, front page and inside page stories for the European edition in earlier posts.
This is the front page of today’s UK edition.
Of course, what this means is that the government of Malta is going to find itself with Britain, France, Germany and Italy aligned against it on the matter of selling passports. The fall-out in other areas is going to be considerable, so our irresponsible government is going to have to work out whether it’s really worth gaining something on the swings to lose a hell of a lot more on the roundabout.
That’s the international relations perspective. The media perspective is this: now that this story has made it to the front page of the UK edition of The Financial Times, the impact is going to enormous, the implications vast and negative, and put simply, it’s going to run, and run, and run.
And the 101 communications consultants and international relations experts (mere common sense would have sufficed) working for the government couldn’t see this coming like a Panzer tank painted Barbie pink with neon green disco-lights wrapped round it.
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Muscat will never back off. He’d lose face.
I loved your concluding comment: “…couldn’t see this coming like a Panzer tank painted Barbie pink with neon green disco-lights wrapped round it.” Hysterical in good and bad ways.
Those nasty Nats are now manipulating the influential UK Financial Times. About time that we reintroduce the Indhil-tal Barrani law .
Is there a risk that the Malta Labour Party’s ‘aristocracy’ burn down the buildings of the FT? They did it with The Times in Malta.
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20121015/local/black-monday-remembered.441196
Sorry, but this article is not by Kurt Sansone, so probably it is not a serious issue.
Theresa May is a tough cookie and the climate in the UK is very anti-immigration. What does Muscat think he’s playing at?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-25226760
Eddy Privitera will now shout on all UK newspaper comments boards, that they have failed to report that “Minister Scicluna has clearly explained that it is not the sale of citizenship!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
Privitera deserves Muscat’s Gieh ir-Repubblika for unlimited courage in defending the indefensible.
Keyboard damdamha.
Min jaf l-exclamation mark key kif gaba hara.
The sale of passports fiasco and the ensueing humliation brought on by the adverse press all the world would have been more than enough to bring down any decent politician from power. Not Muscat.
Dan berawt rahli li ma jisthix.
“And the 101 communications consultants and international relations experts (mere common sense would have sufficed) working for the government couldn’t see this coming like a Panzer tank painted Barbie pink with neon green disco-lights wrapped round it.”
Yes Daphne, but on Edward Scicluna’s admission, they are hardly people of calibre are they. What else could we expect.
Only the three Dallis’ miracles could save us from the sale of our citizenship dilemma. Bastjan turned water into whisky and drugs into soap, John healed himself and the saintliness of Patri Gorg should do the trick.
The magnitude of that story hitting The Financial Times now that all world leaders are together is immeasurable. This is likely to be when the most notable cold shouldering will happen.
Major loss of face for Malta yet again. One week later, and this time it’s not just facing the EU, but world leaders and royals. Not a Minister, but the Prime Minister “himself.”
Ai, Ai, Ai.
I wonder if there’s not one of them that hasn’t read or been briefed or re-briefed on the subject and dearth of values concerning Joseph Muscat and Malta in The Financial Times headline news of the day.
Alla ma’ jhallasx bin-nhar ta’ Sibt.
Do you mind Tabatha?
‘..This is not a “SALE” of citizenship, but a “GRANTING” of citizenship to those who are ready to INVEST a part of their wealth in a FUND created specifically for this purpose, which FUND will be used for the further development of our country and for other initiatives that will improve the standard-of-living of the Maltese people etc.. !!!!! THis is why the PN is so much against this programme. Because this will threaten even further their electoral chances !’
Do I have to tell you who the expert is?
This is hardly news.
The message from the British Government was conveyed to Joey in Sri Lanka.
That could be the only reason possible for his sudden telephonic U-turn from CHOGM.
That it is now splashed across the front pages of the world’s most prestigious newspaper must certainly be the fault of BusuttilPN (formerly GonziPN).
Yes, I did find that rather strange, taking decisions eight time zones away.
I wouldn’t want to be Muscat at the moment, if he had any idea of the grave consequences his decisions can bring about anyway.
This is serious, and no Malta Taghna Lkoll elvish can change it. Welcome to the real world, Labour; it’s so much worse than you think.
All the Josanne Cassars and Kenneth Zammit Tabonas please note, you’re just an obscure group of local commentators who count for absolutely nothing when it comes to global perception.
Time to grow up, all of you.
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20131210/local/citizenship-talks-on-hold.498338
So there’s confusion according to sources. Let’s say Simon spilt the beans on RTK yesterday shall we?
Honestly, Times of Malta is committing suicide if it keeps giving Muscat any credit. It’s obvious what his plan was, procrastinate then blame the Opposition.
I believe a certain Daphne Caruana Galizia said so last week.
As for Professor Bannister, Evarist doesn’t really trust him, or so he says.
Both the Leader of the Opposition and the chairman of the MFSA to keep clear of his dirty tactics, now.
Things will come to head, and with Labour, in the manner least expected.
If the Prime Minister seriously wishes to save Malta’s reputation he should do the honourable thing, resign and go to the polls.
His rash and ill-thought through actions have humiliated our nation which until only 9 short months ago was held in high and reliable esteem.
We have yet to quantify the costs and feel the pinch of such irresponsibility and sheer incompetence.
A financial services centre is painstakingly built block by block on the foundation of trust. In one master stroke, believing he could exploit a legal loophole by abusing sovereign rights, Muscat has betrayed that trust.
This corrupted plan was cooked up way before the last election when Henley rigged, sorry ranked, Malta’s passport at the No. 9 best passport on its self serving index in 2012 ……
Then sold this evil “citizenship for sale quick buck” idea to PL (like they did to St. Kitts and Nevis; and almost to Antigua and Barbuda recently – check out the outcry when they tried to pull a quick one as both the marketing and due diligence agent for the Antigua program) in exchange for campaign services.
Now payback time – remember the movie “Devil’s Advocate” anyone?