The government has included Henley & Partners in its talks with the European Commission
When he was asked about the talks which his government has been forced to have with the European Commission, on the subject of his plans to sell EU passports, the prime minister told a reporter:
“The aim of our discussions is to persuade the European Commission not to interfere.”
That should have been the headline news, but instead it was buried in the report.
Here is some more news. The government’s Persuasion Delegation was on the flight out to Brussels this afternoon: the Parliamentary Secretary for Justice (Owen Bonnici), the Attorney-General (Peter Grech), an executive from Henley & Partners (Chris Kalin) and the prime minister’s chief of staff (Keith Schembri, who owns the multi-million-turnover business, Kasco Enterprises).
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U Corto Farrugia ma marx? Jew haduh hand luggage u stivawh fl-overhead compartment?
He’s an official bag-carrier so his name is not on the official list of delegates.
He was in China when Muscat first boasted publicly about selling passports. His name was not published anywhere.
Kieku qeghdin fi zmien il Francizi f’Malta, kieku lil Corto jahsbuh Napuljun.
Is the European Commission obliged to accept them as part of the delegation?
On TVM news they interviewed a Dutch lawyer who will also be representing the Maltese government. They are leaving no stone unturned.
How much is this all going to cost us? Ma kienx hawn xi cuc Malti jaqbez ghalihom?
Even worse, they’ve included the Attorney-General.
Now that’s a hefty delegation. Any bets they get the finger? ‘Le Grand Place’ would be most appropriate, if I may be somewhat inappropriate.
Ginger can go first
Did you see this?
http://www.newsbook.com.mt/artikli/2014/1/25/filmat:-malta-se-tigi-kkastigata-dwar-ic-cittadinanza-ufficjal-fil-pe.14191
The A Team.
Who ain’t gettin’ on no plane, boy?
Joseph Muscat’s attitude is asking for a suspension by the EU of some of our rights in the EU.
I pity the Attorney General having to defend the indefensible.
As for the government, I thought the Prime Minister has said, “Noted, but no thanks”.
I wonder why he now feels the need to persuade the European Commission over anything at all.
It looks like even Chris Kalin is not too sure of himself, either, in spite of all his cocky statements to the contrary. So much for all their bravado.
I think the AG knows exactly what he is doing and if he is uncomfortable in the situation he should speak up or step down.
Others have done just that, and have kept their self-respect and, not least, their credibility and standing in other people’s eyes.
Same for the position Joe Bannister is in, which was defended by somebody on this site.
Whatever good he has done would need to stand pure, not tarnished.
After his multiple vulgar interviews with the Maltese newspapers, Chris Kalin will have the benefit of expounding his profound knowledge of EU law to the EU Commission.
He will also have a first-hand opportunity to explain his remarks that Viviane Reding acted the way she did because of her close ties with the PN/Simon Busuttil.
Yes, he’ll have to declare it’s his business, not her politics.
Just what the EU needs at the moment.
I mean, does this moron really expect the commission to bend over backwards when it has 90% of MEP’s breathing down its neck?
Some business strategy they have there, bravado, panic and finally, lies. No wonder Scicluna simply abandoned Muscat to manage this Henley something.
Maybe it’s time for the prime minister to step down and let Henley & Partners run the country.
They do, along with Shiv Nair and sundry favourites of the People’s Republic.
Bleeding obvious that they already run the country through our subservient prime minister.
Barranin jikkmandaw f’pajjizna. Gejna tajjeb taht il-Labour.
Xejn gdid Wigi, tiftakarhom bil-Gemaharija kull fejn thares, jew tan-North Korea wicchom mghammad mal-SMU?
O zmien helu.
Chris Kalin must have become the prime minister while we weren’t looking.
http://www.independent.com.mt/articles/2014-01-28/news/no-meeting-planned-between-pm-and-commissioner-reding-3807182850/
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20140128/local/marlene-farrugia-calls-for-a-form-of-residence-requirement-for-citizenship-applicants.504535#.UuhRKuykqSM
It is only a platform to save somebody’s face.
Telling, isn’t it, that it is Kasco who is representing the government, and not the Prime Minister himself?
Kasco has been ‘negotiating’ for – and on behalf of – Joseph Muscat for quite years at Hamrun, and has been extremely successful at it, remember.
I would not wonder that Muscat thinks his Chief’s magical powers of ‘persuasion’ could extend even to silencing the Commission so that it will ‘stop interfering’ into Henley and something’s prospects of making a cute 200 million euros off Muscat’s back.
The Chief himself must surely believe in his own powers. He has shown Muscat that they are worth winning an election at an unbelievable 36,000 vote majority.
And, incidentally, what ‘prime minister’ are you referring to? It has taken quite a number of ‘subordinates’ like Bronka, Mallia and Mercieca to lord it over him, and twist him round their little finger, these last months.
Have Kasco’s company accounts been updated post-elections?
Is there any link to Shiv Nair in his pre-election investment interests?
What are Kasco’s other interests and how have these benefitted post elections?
I heard of his interest in sugar. This brings back memories.
How is the Taghna Lkoll crowd plugging in to this middleman driver? How has their financing blossomed?
Immediately reminded me of an early scene in De Palma’s Untouchables when Eliot Ness kicks Al Capone’s lawyer out for offering a bribe.
As I see it, the government seems to have outsourced a civil service function to Henley & Partners.
This is not a very wise move considering H&P’s remit and conflict of interest.
So Henley and Something must have the MLP by the short and curlies.
Henley is not to blame for marketing what for them is a business strategy. The blame lies strictly on the Prime Minister, who has behaved unethically, if not with downright ignorance.
What the hell is Keith Kasco doing with them at the ‘negotiating’ table? Where or what is his competence in the matter at hand?
By entering into talks with the EU Commission, the PM is simply buying time.
He knows that the current College of Commissioners will end their mandate (and thus their term) in a matter of months and he hopes that the new Commissioner (instead of Mrs Reding) will drop the case against Malta and he will avoid the infringement procedure from the EU Commission.
I’m getting confused. Are there or aren’t there ongoing meetings with the European Commission?
[Daphne – There are. But apparently, they do not include our prime minister or Mrs Reding.]
So Muscat dispatches this Kalin-Kasco instead of Scicluna and Grech.
Perhaps Roberta Metsola could ask the commission for any minutes and/or recording of the meetings.
Are Scicluna-Grech privy to the Kalin-Kasco contracts?
Who’s to say that the EU will ever get the full view?
Grech was all for becoming more than the sum, but what he has been reduced to is far less.
More and less has always been subjective.
Has he projected where he remains in the multiple equations?
Meanwhile Henley is still busy spinning lies: http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20140129/local/citizenship-maltas-scheme-not-secretive-like-austrias-henley.504621#.Uukg-NK1GCQ
You have to love their choice of words: “The aim of our discussions is to persuade the European Commission not to interfere.”
Persuasion:Many people have experienced Labour’s persuasion tactics and methods. Coming from JM the word persuasion rings more like ‘what you can do I can do better’ (with apologies to Guido Demarco’s ‘art of persuasion’).
‘To persuade not to interfere’: Judging by the members (or some of them if you want) of the Persuasion Delegation, it’s more like JM’s doublespeak for telling them to f*c* off.
Having said this, it looks like this citizenship hullabaloo has been well planned and ‘kostid’ to coincide with the end of the current Commissioners’ mandate in a few months’ time.
Applying the Judge Farrugia-Sacco’s impeachment tactic on the Commission, it sounds like another attempt to make the EU smell JM’s coffee,
Funny bones these Henley people, Times of Malta stories in sequence.
January 23rd “Austria denies it ever sold citizenship…”
January 24th “Henley and Partners silent on Austria rebuttal”
January 25th, “We’ve helped Austrians get their Austrian citizenship…”
How about selling closed empty jam jars with a label saying ‘Arja ta’ Malta’?
Dawn x’hasbu, li se jghadduna passata?
Probably. Seeing how ‘they’ managed to fool so many thousands by ‘their’ election campaign.
Why is Times of Malta just reporting not investigating?
Why have no alarm bells rung with their journalists?
Why are Henley & Partners and the people they’re working with in Malta being given carte blanche by the now-dormant media?
What are their extended interests?
http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_MEMO-14-70_en.htm?locale=en
“The amendments include genuine links to Malta through the introduction of an effective residence status in Malta prior to the possibility to acquire Maltese naturalisation.
No certificate of naturalisation will be issued unless the applicant provides proof that he/she has resided in Malta for a period of at least 12 months immediately preceding the day of issuing of the certificate of naturalisation.”
I have just read the news articles that residency is now required prior to citizenship being issued. The papers are reporting the EC as stating that applicants must provide proof that they have resided in Malta for a minimum of 12 months.
Times of Malta is reporting the prime minister as saying that applicants would not need to live in Malta for a full year but this would not mean that they would not come to Malta.
Someone does not seem to understand the meaning of the word ‘resident’.
http://www.maltatoday.com.mt/en/newsdetails/news/national/Malta-EU-reach-agreement-on-Individual-Investor-Programme-20140129
death of the rule of law
Judging from Muscat’s answer to the specific question on the “change”, you know that the “residence” requirements of 12 months is a sham.
Instead of firing Henley for writing a law that embarrassed Malta internationally, and that had to be re written THREE times, the PM has again protected Henley’s cash flow and continues to guarantee Henley the ability to make tens of millions of Euros by using Malta’s money for their own good.
Daphne, why does this continue?
Shouldn’t the PM do something about this?
Somebody should ask the PM and the European Commission if they are referring to physical presence/residence in the country for 12 months before citizenship is granted or merely the issuance and possession of a “residence” permit for 12 months?
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/passports-for-profit-british-company-to-make-disgusting-amounts-of-money-from-controversial-eu-passport-sale-9094251.html
I think the PN is at it again telling all and sundry about the scheme agreement with the EU. Time for Muscat to rant and rave again about how they are harming Malta.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/passports-for-profit-british-company-to-make-disgusting-amounts-of-money-from-controversial-eu-passport-sale-9094251.html
You might like to read this article
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/passports-for-profit-british-company-to-make-disgusting-amounts-of-money-from-controversial-eu-passport-sale-9094251.html
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/passports-for-profit-british-company-to-make-disgusting-amounts-of-money-from-controversial-eu-passport-sale-9094251.html?utm_source=indynewsletter&utm_medium=email30012014
“Passports for profit: British company to make ‘disgusting amounts of money’ from controversial EU passport sale “
I was really disgusted while watching our Prime Minister Joseph Muscat speaking at his press conference yesterday.
His attitude was so much like that of a spiteful child.
If one is sharp enough to read his body language he was saying to all and especially to PN, “I got my way, so there!”.
Of course he didn’t mention the many conditions he had to give in to. His attitude made me sick.