Thursday, 23rd April 2009 - 18:36CET
AD criticises PN for making partisan issue out of immigration
It was a pity that the Nationalist Party chose to use the immigrant issue for partisan ends, moving away from the present political consensus prevalent on the issue, AD chairman Arnold Cassola said.
He was referring to a statement on the vote in the European Parliament yesterday on a report on a common immigration policy prepared by Nationalist MEP Simon Busuttil. All Maltese MEPs voted for the report but an amendment to allow migrants to vote in local elections moved by the Socialist and Green groups was approved. All Maltese MEPs voted against the amendment.
Prof. Cassola said: "It is easy but also dishonest to selectively interpret a complex and highly important EP vote. The PN's unnecessary alarm about voting rights for legal, registered and regular migrants is simply a populist vote-catching attempt which dangerously fans the flames of xenophobia, fear and racism.
"The right to vote, according to this document, is being proposed for regular migrants at local council level only, and not to irregular immigrants."
He said that a regular migrant with voting rights could be anyone from anywhere outside the EU. But the PN conveniently ignored the fact that this proposal was included in the original report presented by PN MEP Simon Busuttil to a European Parliament plenary session on Monday.
He said the PN was trying to hide the fact that all political parties were united in finding solutions for this problem.
With regards to the Green's voting record, Cassola remarked that even with Green MEPs, the vote was split with 21 in favour and 16 against.
He criticised the fact that Busuttil's report did not include a reference to obligatory responsibility sharing as regards irregular migrants.
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Arnold Cassola could not see Joseph Muscat making a partisan issue out of illegal immigration in the last few months.
Now he attacks the PN after the Socialists together with the Greens in the European Parliament voted to give voting rights to immigrants.
What a staunch ally of Joseph Arnold makes!
Has anyone heard of "irregular immigrants" being regularised and thus becoming "regular immigrants"? It is often left-leaning groupings such as the European Greens and the European Socialists that in Europe and in their Member States promote such measures based on their notions of opposition to "xenophobia, fear and racism." Zapatero and Prodi anyone? Obviously, it is only they whom have the God-given right of interpreting what these terms mean in practice.
Thanks to prof. Cassola for highlighting the attitude of a party that has always sought to promote a liberal and softer immigration policy for Malta. Denying this now would be the only thoroughly populist approach in view of the coming elections. As for the Green vote being split, is it because they're opposed to voting rights? :)
Tell us who used to call illegal immigrants tourists.?
Who does not want to send them back to Libya?
That we spend 50cents each citizen each for illegal immigration.
Who wants detention period to go down to 6 months instead of 18.
The whole world knows what the greens policies are for illegal immigration.
Have you got the gall to criticize Simon Busuttil? Have you forgotten that you yourself stood with the Italian left n the ITALIAN parliament??? What would have been your position if you would have remained in the Italian parliament??