The government said this afternoon that the Opposition's declaration in court that it would withdraw citizenship granted to those who applied under the Individual Investor Programme was illegal and dangerous.

Henley and Partners, operators of the scheme, also said the PN declaration in court this morning that citizenship granted under the scheme would be withdraw was 'illegal'.

The PN in a judicial protest this morning warned the government and Henley to advise applicants for citizenship that any passports sold to them under the Individual Investor Programme would be withdrawn without compensation once the PN was back in government.

The government said the opposition was giving notice that if it was returned to government, it would violate human rights without even granting fair hearing, the government said in reaction to the judicial protest filed in the morning by the PN parliamentary group.

"What the opposition is saying it will do is dangerous and not according to law" the government said.

The opposition's intention was clearly to stop the €1 billion which the scheme was expected to yield, for the benefit of the country and its people, the government said. 

It said it was again publishing the advice of the Attorney General which brought to nothing what the Opposition was saying. (See pdf below)

The AG's advice was supported by the independent advice of constitutional lawyers, including the dean and the former dean of the Faculty of Law. 

The government said the Opposition's failure to publish the advice given to it reflected a lack of seriousness.

HENLEY INSIST CITIZENSHIP CANNOT BE WITHDRAWN

Meanwhile, Chris Kalin a citizenship law specialist at Henley and Partners, also insisted in comments to reporters that the PN threat to withdraw citizenship was illegal.

He said Henley was already telling its clients what the PN was saying about the scheme, but in any case it was illegal for the Opposition to declare that when in government it would take back citizenship. That was something which could to be done in terms of the law, he stressed. (See video)

PL: BUSUTTIL IN STATE OF PANIC

Earlier, the Labour Party said  Opposition leader Simon Busuttil was in a panic and resorting to measures aimed only at discouraging investment in the country.

The party said that it appeared that Dr Busuttil and his colleagues were ignoring advice by the Attorney General and constitutional experts that one could not withdraw citizenship once granted, the PL said.

The PN was therefore being urged to publish the legal advice it had been given.

This scheme would yield the country €1 billion, and it was easy to conclude that Dr Busuttil did not want these funds to reach the country, the PL said.

It asked whether Dr Busuttil now felt that a government could ignore commitments made by a previous government.

PN: PM SHOWED HOW CITIZENSHIP CAN BE WITHDRAWN

The Nationalist Party in a reaction said it was the prime minister who was persisting in error by going ahead with a scheme which was illegal and went against international and European law.

It said the prime minister himself had proven that citizenship could be withdrawn when, in a legal notice issued a few days ago, it was established that those who did not abide by the law on the sale of citizenship would lose such citizenship.

That showed how citizenship that was sold could be withdrawn.

This could happen when there was no link between the person and the country whose citizenship was being bought. 

The PN again urged the government to stop and listen. It insisted that those seeking citizenship would not only be required to invest here and own property but also live here for a number of years. Only in this way could European Court action against Malta be avoided.

Attached files

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