I strongly recommend that the Opposition enters negotiations by making it clear at the outset that under no circumstances will citizenship be sold
It is quite clear that what Muscat is trying to do here is his usual: getting the Opposition on board, as he does with his critics, so that they are embroiled in his net and complicit with him.
The Opposition’s agreement to enter into negotiations or discussion with the government about the sale of citizenship has been read exactly for what Muscat intended it to be read: that government and Opposition agree on principle and that it is only the details that need to be ironed out.
I am afraid that the Opposition has not made it clear enough that it has entered negotiations from the firm standpoint that under no circumstances will it agree to the sale of citizenship.
Granting citizenship to individuals on a discretionary basis, rather than a systematic basis, after they have been in Malta for years and have contributed to the economic development of the country – some of Malta’s biggest employers are foreigners who set up businesses here – is not ‘sale of citizenship’.
This new headline in The Washington Post – of all newspapers – can be read in one way only: that the sale of citizenship will happen, but the government and the Opposition are trying to reach agreement on how.
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/malta-pm-delays-sale-of-citizenship-until-both-government-and-opposition-agree-on-terms/2013/11/20/5420b442-51f9-11e3-9ee6-2580086d8254_story.html
Daphne, I believe the Opposition did make it clear. They are completely opposed to a ‘sale’ of citizenship.
[Daphne – If one is completely opposed, one cannot enter into negotiations towards that end. In simple terms, if Miss Borg is completely opposed to marrying Mr Zammit, she will not enter into negotiations with him towards that objective. She will simply tell him ‘No’. If, however, the negotiations are about something entirely different – the granting of citizenship on a discretionary basis to serious contributors to the Maltese economy/society – then what they are negotiating about is not that law, and people should be told. That law cannot be adapted to come in line with anything the Nationalist Party says it stands for. It must be repealed entirely.]
Actually I got the impression that the Opposition does not completely rule out such a scheme if certain conditions are met. Didn’t Tonio Fenech say he will help the government sell the scheme if certain conditions are met?
And NO REFERENDUM. It makes no sense when it comes to something so important.
Wouldn’t following the Austrian way be acceptable?
Exactly. The PN need to make it repeatedly clear that they reject this scheme. The PN must also stress that what it wants is not SALE but GRANTING of citizenship based on real concrete investment, for example a business that employs X number of people for a guaranteed Y number of years. And such granting would be possible, say only if applicant already lived here for Z number of years and after granting the applicant is reviewed periodically say every 2 years and checked that he/she is adhering to the rules.
Another scheme to avoid setting up business could be a one time cash injection directly to the government coffers or towards an art or charity/social institution of say €5 million, but still you would need to be living in Malta and start paying taxes here and all the other rules mentioned above.
These would be the real high value individuals that we would want to attract to our shores. And we would go about it by giving them opportunities that they do not have back in their countries, say things like low bureaucracy, no corruption and no persecution to name just a few.
No corruption?
I was at the General Council and the Opposition made it absolutely clear it is opposed to the sale of passports. Perhaps it is the media that failed to report this clearly.
The Opposition wants a scheme based on tangible investment in the country.. employing people, purchase of property and a minimum proof of physically residing in the country for X years.
Wayne Hewitt, in that case, a VISA is all that’s needed. Then if the employers are resident in Malta they can apply for citizenship in the same manner as everyone else.
What we are seeing is .The P.N. know perfectly well that the Govt. will not move back an inch from it’s stand, We know, as you say perfectly well, one can’t negotiate on something that it does not agree with, not only in details but in principal and they are certain that at the end of the day, the scheme will start working ,with maybe some cosmetic changes.
The first thing that S.Busuttill should have done ;when the P.M said that he was to form part of a board for the running of the scheme ,was tell the P.M.”‘ I will not be part of anything , as the whole thing is unacceptable in principal”..
How can anyone be on a board set up to fine tune a law, say on abortion;if one is totally against abortion?
What they are doing is trying to give us the impression that they did all they could but to no avail
We might even see Legal offices and financial advisers run by P.N hardliners representing some of the applicants . Which is well within their rights.
If there is a gravy train why leave all the gravy to others.
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“The government proposed an amendment to its draft law to set up a monitoring committee. The monitoring committee would be composed of the Prime Minister, the minister for home affairs and the leader of the Opposition.
Opposition votes against.”
Satisfied?
Well Daphne, you can’t complain that Silvio Loporto is not following your rule about punctuation.
The government can’t retreat because it’s got its back to the wall, Silvio, provided the Opposition keeps firm.
Muscat’s scheme won’t fly as long as the message keeps going out that the PN will revoke all the citizenship he sells for cash, as soon as they return to power.
And even if that did work out for Muscat somehow and he managed to flog some passports for cash, he just has to sell one to the wrong sort of person who will later want his head on a plate when the citizenship is revoked.
To add to my last comment, should the Government insist on trampling over the will of the people, Simon Busuttil who will be sitting on the citizenship board should do his best personally contact each person who is buying a passport and warn them of his party’s intentions to revoke it.
“If there is a gravy train why leave all the gravy to others..”
Typical Labour mentality.
And by the way, you mean “principle” not “principal.”
What a weak, pathetic government we’ve been saddled with.
Rushes through a law then says it won’t use it.
What guarantees are there that it isn’t being used in secret?
After all, that’s what this law is all about.
“The very word ‘secrecy’ is repugnant in a free and open society; and we are as a people inherently and historically opposed to secret societies, to secret oaths, and to secret proceedings.”
– John F. Kennedy
[Daphne – Oh, I wouldn’t quote John Kennedy on the matter of secrecy. He a career out of cheating and keeping secret mistresses. Then there were all those Mafia threat rumours…]
There should never be a price. There can never be a price. There should be merit, but it seems living in a society which values more the money. Then for the sake of money we might even suggest prostituting our sisters and mothers, it brings in money, or pilfer the collection boxes. The end justifies the means for some people. Not for me.
I do hope that the Opposition will not budge on this one. They cannot afford to give an inch. If they do they shall lose all credibility and a massive number of votes. Well mine anyway.
I hope so too, and I hope the Opposition will continue to make it clear that if they are not completely happy with whatever legislation we end up with, they will repeal it when in power and revoke all citizenship granted under that law.
Muscat needs to learn his lesson that you can’t always do what you want and bulldoze over the people you govern, even with a 9-seat majority.
The Opposition has to repeat every other day the salient points of what they want out of a scheme. Not ‘this scheme’.
Real measurable investment, taking up residence as a determining factor, ergo taxes, and a minimum of five years until citizenship. If anything, bicker whether those five years can become four.
And definitely get rid of Henley’s exclusive contract to sell and confidential vetting. Citizenship granted by the Maltese, thank you very much.
Why not contest the elections and get yourself elected to the Opposition benches if you know much more that the present Opposition members know? Let the Opposition work in the best interests of the country.
Lorry, you have no qualms in expressing your opinions whilst simultaneously being abusive to others for havinf the temerity to express their opinions – presumably because they are different from yours.
Agreed that the Opposition cannot afford to be seen weak with this fox. It has to be diligent and firm. It cannot afford to confuse people about what its position is.
Citizenship should be sold but only if the right conditions are met. Off hand I would say that the following conditions should be met:
– If the applicant does significant investment in Malta
– If the applicant contributes to a fund or a special purpose vehicle
– If the applicant takes active residence in Malta
– If the applicant becomes part of the Maltese society and contributes to it – not just financially
– After a proper and independent due diligence
– After a “test” period of at least 5 years.
– The citizenship should be bound by a lifetime condition that the applicant will never be found guilty of wrong doing in any court in which case citizenship is revoked.
I think that such a person who meets the above conditions should be given the opportunity to become Maltese. If any of the above conditions is not possible, then citizenship should not be sold in my opinion.
All this whilst salesman Joe is in Miami promoting it – absolute madness.
You forgot one of the worst parts: “whilst salesman Joe is in Miami promoting it and the law already allows the sale of citizenship to begin, which it probably has.”
And rather than following the prime minister to Miami to inform the Maltese and other public on what is going on at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel, Reno Bugeja – Head of News at the Public Broadcasting Services on a salary of Euro 1,000 per week – prefers to go on live state TV to interview John Dalli, the prime minister’s voluntary consultant on health who is under investigation by OLAF.
With Zammit Lewis blissfully unaware of what’s happening,
http://www.maltarightnow.com/?module=news&at=Arrow+Pharma+tikkunsidra+t%2Dtke%26%23267%3B%26%23267%3Bija+ta%27+%26%23295%3Baddiema&t=a&aid=99852376&cid=19
Arrow Pharma, Toly, ST, Carlo Gavazzi, all high value producers. Something’s very wrong.
Where’s that dork Bencini and his MCSD?
I agree, Daphne. If the Opposition does not take a firm stand that our citizenship is not for sale, then I for one, would lose complete trust in the PN.
They should never have compromised with Dr. Muscat on the Speaker’s choice, for example. That was what the prime minister wanted: tactics to give the nation the impression that he “is working with the Opposition”.
The agreement about who should occupy the Chair in the Chamber, was a show of weakness by the PN. Again, he promised that “he would listen” and then went off to Miami to sell Maltese passports just the same. The Opposition needs to be very wary of the PM; manipulation is part of his nature. Ask the Switchers.
Good point.
Muscat should be challenged to make the first move and declare where he’s willing to go and where he’ll stop. Muscat’s tactic is never to make the first move, easy when you’re not in the hot seat.
The Opposition doesn’t have to do anything really, it’s Muscat’s call.
It would be hilarious if he were to call the Opposition negative or as Maltatoday would have it, hardline, given the international reaction and the rumbling heard at EU level. Most leaders refuse to accept this farce as some sovereign right of an individual state.
That’s an alternative route to doublestep Muscat, I don’t think he’s willing to disrupt all foreign relations as yet.
Busuttil can then milk the other poll, the one where 81% of Maltese declare themselves ‘European’.
Bit of a pincer.
Manuel, then vote Labour if that’s your wish. Or else contest the general elections and get yourself elected instead of the present Opposition members.
The only negotiating points should be about granting of Maltese passports to deserving people who actually “have been in Malta for years and have contributed to the economic development of the country” and also to others who would, in future, acquire that entitlement.
Tthe Washington Post takes its headline from the weak and possibly inaccurate Associated Press headline, “Malta Postpones Citizenship Sale After Opposition”, which does not reflect the Opposition’s actual statement buried in the article’s text (that I agree needs to be more categorical).
“In a statement, the Nationalists welcomed the shelving of the legislation and said they were ready to discuss amendments requiring the new passport holders to have Maltese residency and offer job-creating investment opportunities.”
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EU_MALTA_SELLING_CITIZENSHIP?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
Simon Busuttil should have nominated Mario Demarco to join Jason Azzopardi in talks with the government on this scheme. Dr. Busuttil should also be very clear and state from the outset that what Malta is looking for is investment, leading to residency that in turn leads to citizenship, naturally after a number of years.
Yes, for the hoi polloi one needs to spell it out very simply as most people do not follow the news in detail. They need to oppose it full-stop.
I too thought the same thing when I heard that the PN had started to negotiate with the PL on this. It was a bad move.
These are negotiations 100% on the Labour regimes terms – amending their existing law to make it consensual and palatable. Something they made no attempt to do until the worldwide uproar.
This is, in my humble opinion, a grave mistake by PN.
It is not correct to negotiate with such amoral people.
Negotitations will lead to Little Joey and The Forty Thieves calling a referendum on their premise – the question will be loaded.
35,000 voter signatories now calling for an Abrogative referendum means , I am lead to believe, that the question is preset – Do you want to revoke this law Yes/No?
Once the law is revoked, then the nation should start again and ascertain the best way to attract investment to Malta.
The scale of the current debacle created by the Labourists must not be allowed to engulf the PN – which is the sole intention.of proposed joint discussions on the passports for sale scam
It is simple: citizenship can be acquired not bought. There is nothing else to it.
No agreement can be reached and now that the Opposition has gone through the motions of appearing reasonable, they should be realistic and plan the next step.
The Government cannot afford to have applicants wait five years before being given their citizenship.
It would mean that the first passports are not issued before late 2018, well after the next general elections. For all intents and purposes it would mean that the citizenship scheme is scrapped for this legislature.
Will Joseph Muscat accept this? Surely not.
Citizenship must not be sold. The PN must insist on this. The vast majority agree.
Daphne is right: you are either for or against.
It was a totally wrong move of the opposition to enter into negotiations. The issue has been trashed out extensively in parliament, the rightful forum for this, and finally the House passed the bill largely as originally drafted. Case closed as far as parliament is concerned.
The government went ahead with its original plans notwithstanding public outcry and the opposition’s vote. Now it should be left, all alone, to face the consequences of its actions.
I agree with you that the only grounds for negotiation for negotiations would be about an entirely new bill, following the abrogation of the current one.
I am not so upset with the money-making intention itself as I am with the lack of principle behind it.
A good friend has been living in Malta for 12 years and although the EU says that it is his right to become a Maltese citizen after 5 years, the Maltese government department openly told him (last year) that they will generally not grant him citizenship until he clocks up 18 years, unless the minister makes an exception.
This 18 year wait period goes against the spirit of the EU policy but either the EU does not care or it does not know of this Maltese policy to not adhere to the 5 year policy.
My friend genuinely lives in Malta, speaks basic Maltese, works and pays taxes, has a relationship with a Maltese but refuses to marry simply for convenience.
Meanwhile the government, instead of rectifying this unfair practice with existing genuine long term residents, it chooses to close an eye for a princely sum. And the appointment of a private firm to handle applications as opposed to creating a section within home affairs to process applications makes this absurd sale all the more suspicious.
You are perfectly right, Daphne. The Associated Press news release is about negotiating the terms for the sale of citizenship; a suspension of the sale until terms are agreed.
The sale of citizenship is ‘per se’ objectionable no matter what the terms and conditions are. The scheme must be scrapped, not amended or fine-tuned as the Government is suggesting.
If Malta wishes to grant citizenship to individuals who have a tie or a commitment to Malta, then the Government must start afresh and cannot start on the footing of the obscene Act which it pushed hurriedly through Parliament.
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You are perfectly right, Daphne – ghax JOEY haxxej.
The Opposition must make it amply clear that it will join the government if identities are not kept secret, if the citizenship is granted after at least five years from application pass and during which period the prospective applicant does not act in an unbecoming way and finally, but equally important, the applicant must INVEST money in Malta and create jobs .. punto e basta. That should be clear enough.
One thing that Tonio Fenech must also do is dispel any argument being put forward by the government that he had some similar scheme up his sleeve too, unless there is truth in it, that is.
Is there any way to hear his Miami speech? I love to hear him praise the country that was governed for 25 years by those who never learn.
I have a gut feeling that the forces of Evil and Deceit are at it again.
When Muscat said that he is willing to hear what the people say, he’s NOT referring to a referendum, but a popular discussion and vote, which will probably translate into something similar to a vote by show of hands in Birgu on the 13th of December.
Interesting. Then I propose that Alfred Sant should be there, and he should call Joseph Muscat “Traditur,” like he called Dom Mintoff in 1998.
Off topic.
http://www.independent.com.mt/articles/2013-11-22/news/robert-musumeci-among-presenters-at-pn-activity-3265003520/
In God’s name, why?
If the government has already sold some passports secretly,or does so while negotiations are still going on,then he will not be against the law as it stands now. never never trust PL again
Yesterday evening on NET TV, Andrew Azzopardi was suggesting that he did not understand how the position of the PN was different from the position of the government. So Antoine Borg had to explain it to him slowly.
Azzopardi’s suggestion is similar to that of Labour exponents. When the Labour exponents do it, I believe they do it on purpose, to confuse the public, and it is an indicator that Joseph Muscat and his party will still try to get their way by resorting to buying time and building pressure on the PN while Henley & Partners register interest in the scheme.
Why should a University lecturer have difficulty understanding that “selling” a citizenship on a commissions basis is not the same as granting a citizenship subject to special conditions such as a period of residence and productive (non-passive) investment? There are several civilesed countries around the world which grant citizenship on that basis.
A key word here should be “naturalisation.” It is the process of conferring the citizenship of a country to someone who did not acquire it as a natural-born citizen of that country.
It has long been an accepted norm that one of the strongest basis (justifications) for naturalisation is a period of (legal and legitimate) residence in the country conferring the citizenship.
So why should someone who does not reside in Malta be granted citizenship of Malta?
Please, Andrew Azzopardi does his very best to outdo Musumeci, both unable to determine an argument.
All they do is recount notions to fill airspace. At least Peppi organised daqsxejn ta’ party wara l-programm.
So dear Tony Zarb, miskin that he is, can’t make up his mind about what the GWU’s position should be about the atrocious law now in place on the sale of passports.
Yes Sur Zarb, it’s a friggin LAW, so there’s nothing to hesitate about unless of course you’re still waiting for directions from your political masters before you pronounce yourself.
Please note that the rest of the world has mocked us and given a definite opinion on this atrocious law.
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20131121/local/party-talks-on-citizenship-today-as-pm-attends-conference-promoting-scheme-in-miami.495568#.Uo8BkifFrZg
If Tony Zarb were in favour of the citizenship scheme, he certainly would not have had any problem to pronounce himself. The fact that he has not simply shows that he too is against.
Totally agree with you, Daphne – ‘earning’ it (at Malta’s discretion) as opposed to ‘buying’ it.
Discussions with the Opposition should have been held before the bill became law, not after.
Also, it is clear that the majority of Maltese are completely against this law. Since it was not in the Labour Party’s electoral manifesto, a referendum should be held. The people will decide. That is the way true democracy works.
I believe that the Nationalist Party declared before the start of the discussions that it will stand firmly against any outright sale of citizenship.
It may however agree to a scheme whereby citizenship may be granted to individuals subject to a minimum term of residency and of course a employment generating investment, similar to existent schemes in European Union countries.
[Daphne – Those are not schemes. They are entirely discretionary. A scheme implies that if you fulfil the requirements, then you will get citizenship. But that is not the case at all in any other EU member state.]
The bottom line is that you cannot sell something which does not belong exclusively to you.
Even if one were to assume, for the sake of argument that citizenship can be sold (I don’t believe it can), EU citizenship is collectively owned and must be collectively sold and the fruits of that sale collectively enjoyed.
Anything that falls short of this maxim is unacceptable.
The Opposition should not have accepted to play into the hands of Joseph Muscat by participating in negotiations behind closed doors.
This issue is of fundamental importance and proper discussions should have taken place in public in the House of Representatives where the arguments of the Opposition could have reigned supreme.
This is not a question of reaching a compromise, as the Prime Minister suggested in Parliament, but of doing what is right.
The position of the Government is weak and totally unacceptable because it is based on the wrong premise that citizenship is just an economic commodity. Therefore the scheme cannot be bettered, but it has to be scrapped.
But please remember that Joseph Muscat pledged his political career on the promise to lower the water and electricity rates. He needs the money at all costs, but no serious and innovative ideas of how to generate the required additional income were proposed in the Budget.
This scheme is his political life saver. Joseph Muscat cannot budge on this one. He will do his utmost to rope in the Opposition.
The government is giving the impression that it wants to discuss the fine print with the opposition.
The Opposition has to keep in mind that it is in discussions with an internationally recognized pimp.
It has to make it very clear that it is the largest upper case print that has to be discussed.
Malta expects nothing more and nothing less from it.
A huge responsibility has been thrown into the Opposition’s court by a slimy yet ignorant PM.
Bhas-soltu dejjem iboss b’sorm haddiehor ghax lanqas iboss m’hu kapaci.
The Opposition is now duty-bound to make him smell his coffee, for the country’s sake.
I agree and disagree.
I believe that the Opposition has made it perfectly clear that this citizenship scheme is unacceptable.
Muscat, however, used an interesting choice of words, implying that he either hasn’t heard a single word the Opposition has said over the past few weeks, or that he is so emotionally attached to his idea that no one will ever make him let go.
Muscat strikes me as the type of person who has to win and will go to great lengths to challenge anything that shows that, like everyone, sometimes he doesn’t win.
Much like Mintoff, he will not budge on this matter simply because he is very much attached to his ideas, possibly because of the perceived good that will come of it. In this case using the money to better Malta.
I don’t think he realizes that the damage has already been done and can only be undone if this whole thing is ditched. I also think he blinds himself to any criticism because he doesn’t want to accept that anything that results in something good can be bad.
Again, the Labour Party will use the ends, and talk about the ends only, in order to paint the PN as a negative, jealous and more importantly an elitist party because, since they won’t be in favour of the means which they equate to being against the ends; the fact that our country will make money.
Yes, we might make some money to begin with, but the way in which our reputation has been destroyed and the effects thereof will cost us all dearly in the short and long run.
It must be made clear that the Opposition is not against bettering the country and the lives of the people. which can easily be proved since, after 25 years of being in government, the Maltese and Malta have progressed and are now experiencing a better standard of living than ever before and inequality is not all that high.
Muscat must understand that. He must stop using Mintoff’s tactics to paint the PN as a classist party just for his own ends. The PN has done more in Malta to improve equality and economic prosperity in Malta than Labour ever did. Muscat needs to let this scheme go, or face the consequences.
Unless I misunderstand, why do you suggest that Muscat is attached to the his idea because he will be using the money for a better Malta?
I am morally convinced that Muscat is attached to the idea only because, metaphorically speaking of course, he has the Chinese government with a fully loaded gun pointed to his, well, arse. If he does not finalise the scheme as he originally proposed it, the Chinese may withdraw the Memorandum of Understanding connected to Enemalta, and will not submit a mega land reclamation project expression of interest by the closing date later this month.
The PN must make sure that the ‘for sale’ sign is removed.
In Malta, the ‘for sale’ sign can only be removed by stopping the law with a referendum.
On a global level, that sign can never be removed. Even if the referendum is won, it is highly unlikely that that news would reverberate around the world with the same effectiveness of the ‘passport sale’ scheme.
Oramai, la frittata e’ fatta.
Mrs Helga Ellul is exactly the kind of foreigner who should be granted citizenship, as indeed she was. She dedicated her entire career to one of Malta’s biggest employers and contributors to the economy, Brand International, and she is married to a Maltese man with Maltese children.
Totally agree.
The PN have to be careful not to be drawn into this outrageous scheme by the scoundrel and slimy prime minister.
I sincerely hope that even they (the PN) are aware that Joseph Muscat has no scruples and therefore they have to be constantly on their guard.
Citizenship is NEVER FOR SALE! The scheme has to be scrapped.
It’s infuriating to see adjectives like ‘cunning’, ‘foxy’, ‘devious’ etc attributed to this apology of a Prime Minister; they all lay claim to a level of intelligence which he obviously lacks.
He is never the puppeteer and always the puppet. Witness how every time he stands alone, nothing but drivel comes out of his mouth. Even a kindergarten child has more sense not to say that ‘yes sometimes a politician has to tell the truth’ – no matter how true it may be.
The question we should be asking is why is the Prime Minister of Malta going out of his way in this manner to market and promote this scheme?
It is bad enough that Maltese financial service providers have been precluded from promoting this scheme on pain of fines but it is really not the place of the Prime Minister to demean himself and his position by so evidently becoming a pawn in the marketing strategies of the monopolistic concessionaire Henley and Partners. Joseph Muscat must have more than a vested interest in all of this. What is it?
Simon Busuttil said that he wants to be committee member so that he will be able to publish the secret names. He had a point there. If the government ,however, removes the secrecy clause and the names will be officially published, Simon Busuttil doesn’t have a place in that committee.