How to raise money: PN vs Labour
Published:
October 9, 2013 at 10:09pm
Lawrence Gonzi, as his last act of government, negotiates Eur1.2 billion in EU funds. He could, of course, have said ‘screw this, I’m going to lose anyway, so they can ruddy well deal with it themselves.’ But he didn’t.
Joseph Muscat, as his first real act of government, sells Maltese passports to raise cash. Selling Maltese citizenship to 65 people he has lined up already, he tells the press, will bring in Eur30 million.
Er, yes, and then what? Sell another stack of passports to more Georgians, Azerbaijanis and Tajikistanis and raise a few more million to pay off the next bill?
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Has anyone calculated how many passports Joseph Muscat needs to sell to lower the water and electricity tariffs?
And how many more does he need to sell to lower the national debt?
I heard that in the next budget, the government will be announcing its revenue and expenditure not in millions of Euros, but in passport numbers: e.g. The education budget amounts to 1,000 passports – that is equivalent to euro 650 million; the health budget amounts to 2,000 passports – that is equivalent to euro 1,300 million.
This is the Passports-for-votes scandal, if you ask me.
What about the clause regarding an interview. Somehow, there is something wrong in this as well. We get interviewed in more minor situations in life, even for menial, part-time jobs but you can get a passport without anyone having a look at your face or hearing your voice. I stand to be corrected, though.
“(6) A personal interview with an Applicant shall not be a mandatory requirement but may be recommended by the Concessionaire and, or considered by Identity Malta, on a case-to-case basis, if deemed necessary in a particular case. The procedures applicable to personal interviews shall be determined by Identity Malta.”
That translates to: Applicants who qualify for the purchase of Maltese Citizenship (but who mIght be viewed as not aligned with the PL concept of meritocracy) will be referred to Identity Malta for an interview, so that they will then fail and also lose their Euro 10,000 non-refundable deposit.
With each questionable passport approved comes a crowd of white collar thug referral points for Taghna Lkoll informal consultation.
Do you notice that Joseph Muscat is only thinking how the government is going to earn millions and not how the workers are going to earn their living.
Muscat can make easy money out of this dubious business of selling citizenship but the country will lose more millions in investment because it will not be trusted by serious investors.
But his sheep are still believing that by getting more money for the government, that would mean more money in their pocket, as he promised them before March.
Of course the fools are still not realising that he hasn’t kept ONE promise to date.
That’s the greatness of Gonzi. He worked hard, against many odds and managed to safeguard Malta’s economy when other bigger countries were on their knees.
Now we’re selling passports, the ‘easy’ way out.
U ejja Daphne, what’s the big deal with Gonzi’s 1.2 billion? Muscat can do better by selling just 2000 passports.
Muscat is no different to those who take 1000 euros from people desperate to get to Europe, making them cross the Med in a little boat. He is just a few rungs higher up the ladder.
Lawrence Gonzi: a true statesman.
Joseph Muscat: a true fraudster.
Hear, hear.
Lawrence Gonzi is a true statesman. Joseph Muscat is a true pedlar. How can Muscat command respect when he behaves like a hawker?
If he really does have advisers, they’re letting him down badly.
It has just struck me how ridiculous he must have sounded to the Bloomberg journalist while boasting about 30 million euros.
Not much bigger countries than Malta turn up their noses at 30 million.
Meanwhile, everyone showed great respect at Gonzi’s practically-impossible-to-negotiate 1.2 billion.