No, the constituted bodies are NOT with the government on this one
The prime minister said at a press conference after yesterday’s European Parliament vote that he will press on and that the constituted bodies are with him on this.
But the only ‘constituted body’ which has released a statement of approval is the Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association, which is hardly the relevant one. And it’s attitude can be summed up in its flippant use of the exhortation ‘it’s time to move on’, which has since been picked up by the prime minister.
The presence of the president of the Chamber of Commerce at the prime minister’s side during an earlier press conference about this unpleasant business was not mirrored in any official statement by the actual Chamber itself.
And it would be interesting to see what David Curmi, the man in question, has to say now that 90% of the European Parliament has voted against it.
Meanwhile, here’s what a very relevant ‘constituted body’ – the Malta Employers Association – said in a statement this morning. It is quite obvious that they are anything but behind or side by side with the government on this one. As with the vast majority of us, they are truly concerned about the damage Malta is going to suffer.
The statement also makes it clear that the government did NOT consult the social partners prior to the scheme, despite what has been claimed. The relevant EU Commissioner, Viviane Reding, said that she had not been consulted either, despite claims by the government that it had received assurances “from the EU” that all would be fine.
On timesofmalta.com:
CITIZENSHIP: MEA APPEALS TO GOVERNMENT TO TRY TO REVERSE DAMAGE TO MALTA’S REPUTATION
The Malta Employers’ Association has called on the government to try to reverse this damage done to Malta’s reputation with the citizenship scheme by consulting with other political forces and the social partners to see how the scheme could be re-designed to become compatible with criteria acceptable to the EU.
The MEA said in a statement that the outcome of the vote at the European Parliament confirmed its reservations but stressed that it was in favour of any initiatives that could attract investment and create jobs in Malta as long as these did not compromise the performance of other sensitive economic sectors.
“There is no question that the EP vote has caused Malta considerable reputational damage which could have been avoided had there been prior consultation with the social partners to agree on a design which would not have caused international controversy.
“As things stand now, the association is more concerned than before due to the common front against the scheme by all political forces within the European Parliament and the Commission, and the possible negative consequences which this situation can have on the economy in the future.”
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Daphne, who cares what MEA says? Joseph Muscat is determined to push forward this programme. Who cares about EU opinion? Malta taghna llkol nitnejku mill-Ewropa.
Joseph is hitting two birds with one stone on this. Prostituting our citizenship and picking a fight with the EU to get to the point of irreconcilable differences and eventual break-away. This could very well be the beginning of the end. Either that or he and his people are even stupider than we thought.
It is the latter. If Malta were not in the EU he wouldn’t have European citizenship to sell nor would he be interesting to the Chinese anymore.
Quite. The point here is, has Muscat realised that he is risking killing the goose that will give him those golden eggs?
Based on his past decisions, the most notorious of which is that EU membership would be disastrous for Malta and that we should all vote No to membership, I’d say he hasn’t.
Unfortunately this guy is very short-termist, as evidenced by his comment during the elections that he was concentrating solely on getting elected, and that he would start thinking about governing if he was elected. And have we not seen this over the last 11 months.
I missed the pre-election billboard that said:
Let’s Fuck Malta’s International Reputation – That’ll Make a Change.
Thank goodness the constituted bodies aren’t with the government on this one!
Even if that means, horror of horrors, that Joseph Muscat has lied, again. Hardly surprising by now.
Let’s hope and pray that other constituted bodies join the MEA and try to make the government bring its scheme in line with EU and International standards.
Trade unions most of all, since their members will be the hardest hit if this mad scheme comes to fruition.
Surely this is more serious than Alfred Sant’s electricity bills hype. Where are the rallies and protests? If we do not stand together – our future looks disastrous.
Let’s hope and pray and do our bit to change all this.
Can anyone provide a list of all the projects in Malta financed wholly or in part by China and Libya in Mintoff’s golden era?
What is their contribution to the Maltese economy today?
To err is human. But to deliberately repeat the error is something else.
Will “people of wealth and calibre” still want to buy Maltese citizenship if (when?) this government opts to leave or is kicked out of Europe?
The problem Muscat has isn’t the EU Commission, it’s the European parliament urging the Commission to take action and block this thing.
And it’s not a given Malta won’t be demoted to where Bulgaria and Rumania were a couple of months ago: free movement restricted and controlled by individual member states.
[Daphne – Not really, no. The situation with Bulgaria and Romania was different: a transitory period after joining, negotiated at the time of joining. Malta had the same transitory period for seven years in that we had restrictions on free movement IN, not out. The Schengen area is a different matter.]
As for US anxiety, guess what the repercussions will be, and by default, what happens to Schengen.
Muscat needs to explain exactly how he intends to press on when, not if, these happen. All I see is crisis management.
Correction, free movement restricted period.
Publicly, compared to the European Union, the US has not come out full force against the sale of Maltese citizenship, even though we have a visa waiver. Partly this could be because their solution would be relatively easy. Restrict free movement of all Maltese passport holders in US territories. Lift the waiver.
I am surprised that the Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association approves. In the comments below the articles in the foreign press regarding the sale of citizenship, I have often read angry comments saying that they will boycott Malta and will not come here as tourists. So our tourism industry is going to suffer if Muscat carries on with the scheme.
Let it. These people only will only realise when their pocket is impacted. Good for them, jgawdu
Meantime, the real work’s on hold.
Gym sessions weekday mornings, ‘consultations’ with stakeholders to provide photo-ops, a world tour to exotic locations to get golfers to buy Sandro’s flats, and the dog ate his homework.
This was his other new deal, a silly idea by liberal standards, prone to unsustainability, but then it’s better than having the Shania’s and Brandons loiter on Facebook.
http://www.maltarightnow.com/?module=news&at=Muscat+imwissi+mill%2DUE+biex+ma+j%26%23295%3Ballix+li%26%23380%3B%2D%26%23380%3Bg%26%23295%3Ba%26%23380%3Bag%26%23295%3B+bla+g%26%23295%3Bajnuna+biex+isibu+mpjieg&t=a&aid=99853614&cid=19
I think this puts his citizenship in real perspective. Or better it illustrates our prime minister’s weakness for distractions.
I’ve just had a thought, and perhaps our European Studies graduates can provide some clues.
If a member state withdraws from the EU, is it required to refund everything it received from the EU, plus interest?
And what about the new European citizens? They would have purchased EU citizenship which is no more. Can they sue the Maltese Government?
The Chamber of Commerce should publish their stand on the Citizenship 4 Sale scheme. Some decent journalist should send clear questions to the Chamber about their position.
Let’s see exactly where they stand.
Oh shit.
http://www.independent.com.mt/articles/2014-01-17/news/beppe-grillo-says-ill-intentioned-people-could-buy-malteseeu-passport-3709599744/
The constituted bodies, such as the Chamber of Commerce, should distinguish themselves from their presidents, unless these bodies are managed like mini-dictatorships.
It is obvious that David Curmi did what he did for greed and personal gain.
We saw that with MEA before the election when itspresident was the first to endorse the unnecessary new power station.
Kemm kellu ragun Simon Busuttil, meta qal li jekk jitla l-Labour, DRITT GHAL GOL-HAJT.
Hats off to the Malta Employers Association. They are on the right side of history. As for the Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association, well, they will learn in due time that their egoistic and opportunistic stand will come back to haunt and hit them hard as Malta is given the cold shoulder.
Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association please note. I envisage that if the Prime Minister will press on with the IIP, many countries forming part of the EU will seek to ask for a visa for Maltese passport holders when visiting their country. After this, knowing the Prime Minister, will impose a visa on those countries who had imposed a visa. MHRA, what does this mean? To spell it out clearly it means that we are facing a crisis in tourist visits to Malta. But of course, it really does not matter to Mr Zahra, one of the leaders of MHRA: he had his iced bun.
[Daphne – Do please try to be rational. There’s enough irrationality everywhere else. How can you impose visa requirements on fellow EU member states?]
A visa cannot be imposed on the other 27 EU member states.
However, what can be done is that visa-waiver agreements with countries such as the United States can be revoked. Now that would definitely be a shot in the foot; something that the previous administration worked so hard for would literally be thrown down the drain.
And that would probably just be the beginning to other similar beneficial agreements involving Malta being revoked.
The expected has arrived, unexpectedly earlier than expected. There’s hardly any excuse for anyone. Whoever didn’t see or couldn’t understand the writing on the wall, could have easily seen all prophetically on this precious blog.
Malta is to hold the EU presidency between January and June 2017.
In preparation for this significant event Joseph Muscat has taken the appalling step of rebuffing ninety percent of the European Parliament’s MEPs call to halt a plan to sell Maltese passports to foreigners.
Can the Commission change the fact that Malta will in fact hold the Presidency due to Malta’s insubordinate actions this week?
How can Malta be trusted to hold a position of trust?
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20140117/local/revision-of-class-orders-announced.502995
On another subject, at the press conference on the revision of use classes order, Robert Musumeci sat alongside the Parliamentary Secretary. His presence suggests that he was actively involved in making amendments.
With Musumeci, running a private practice this is conflict of interest of the highest order. His input will be influenced by requests made by his clients. Some of the changes made will not be in the best public interest, at least as perceived by impartial MEPA officers, but by what is in the best interest of Musumeci’s clients.
Even if Musumeci were to claim impartiality in his contribution to the amendments, his role of advisor to the ministry is in conflict with his role as architect with a large private practise.
Ethical standards in Malta have fallen so low that we have become immune. Nobody is shocked or surprised and no one bothers to object to a breach of basic ethics.
This may be a future news story in the international press;
Mexican drug baron found to be in possession of a Maltese passport.
http://markanthonysammut.blogspot.com/2014/01/remember-remember-scicluna-in-december.html
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20131215/local/Austria-comparisons-to-citizenship-deal-odious-.498976#.UtlZL3ikrCQ
Qed nifhem ghaliex ma tqassmux il-pilloli bieb bieb lill-anzjani. Jien perswaz li b`dak li qed jisimghu kienet tigihom it-tentazzjoni ta overdose meta jaraw lill Malta taqa hekk ghar-ridikolu meta huma kienu tant baghtew biex Malta tiehu postha fost l-aqwa pajjizi tad-dinja.
Calm down, folks.
Muscat will never take us out of the EU. That would require effort. He always takes the lazy route, like using the PN’s budget, the PN’s manifesto, even selling passports the PN worked hard to get us.
Let’s go back 10 years. Malta was not in the EU and we needed a visa to enter the USA. How many of the so-called investors would apply for a Maltese passport?
Let it. These people only will only realise when their pocket is impacted. Good for them, jgawdu