Opposition Leader Simon Busuttil said yesterday his party would be taking legal action against the cash-for-citizenship scheme as the Prime Minister expressed optimism following “positive” talks with the European Commission.

The controversial scheme took centre stage again in yesterday’s political activities, as it has been doing for weeks on end.

Dr Busuttil said his party would be filing a judicial protest to stress the point to those applying for Maltese passports that the scheme was being investigated by the EU and challenged by the Nationalist Party.

“Those who apply for a Maltese passport must be told what they are going in for and that their passport will be withdrawn by a future Nationalist government,” Dr Busuttil said.

Stop the damage that was being done to Malta

He promised that the Opposition would also challenge the scheme in Parliament and urged MPs on government benches to “stand up to be counted” if they wanted to stop the damage that was being done to Malta.

Dr Muscat defended the scheme, saying that in just five years it would create the wealth that usually took the country 15 years to generate. He said his government was pre-empting a future trend and was using a different method to attract businessmen and foreign direct investment to the island.

He said the Opposition’s actions had “backfired” and closed the door on discussions. “You played your hand and now you have to wait while we discuss with the EU,” he said to loud applause.