Is the origin of the ‘passports for sale scheme’ of diabolical or divine inspiration?

Some nefarious enemies of the people have been alleging that the former is the case. They point out towards a possible pre-electoral deal between Labour Party and Henley and Something – as the eminent company has been endearingly called by the Minister of Finance. The same good for nothing individuals allege that Henley and Something is involved in similar schemes in shady Caribbean states and they even have the temerity to suggest that the esteemed partnership has financed electoral campaigns overseas. Such allegations are quite naturally totally false and incredibly baseless.

Now we have it on reliable sources that the inspiration for the sale could have divine origins. These sources point towards the conversation between St Paul and a Roman commander recorded by St Luke in the Acts of the Apostles.

An intolerant crowd, we are told, caused a riot in protest against the preaching of St Paul. “Rid the earth of this fellow, for he isn’t fit to live!” they shouted in unison. The Roman Rapid Intervention Force went into immediate action. Paul was brought into the barracks where the commanding officer ordered that he be scourged to get the truth out of him.

The following verses from Acts 22: 25 – 28 tell the rest of the story:

“Paul asked the centurion who stood by, ‘Is it lawful for you to scourge a man who is a Roman, and not found guilty?’ When the centurion heard it, he went to the commanding officer and told him, ‘Watch what you are about to do, for this man is a Roman!’

The commanding officer came and asked him, ‘Tell me, are you a Roman?’

He said, ‘Yes’

The commanding officer answered, ‘I bought my citizenship for a great price.’

Paul said, ‘But I was born a Roman.’ “

Could it be that some big shot in government while meditating on the Acts of the Apostles came across this passage and took the cue from it for the scheme?

“If the Romans could prostitute their citizenship, why cannot we do the same?” this big shot could have said.

If this is true, does the scheme then be above criticism? Not really, I suppose, because prostitution is always prostitution and thus a dehumanising activity which should be condemned even though it is lucrative.

Little is probably known of the Roman way of selling passport. Did the Romans engage the equivalent of Henley and Something to do their business? And if they did were they as arrogant as the present crop of Henley and Something? One thing we can be certain of the Henley’s of yesteryear never financed electoral campaigns!

When the commanding officer said that he bought his citizenship for a great price, how great was it? Ours is quite modest.

Consider the following:

A man who buys a Maltese passport for himself, his wife and three children together with his parents pays an average onetime payment of €114,000 for each member of his family. This is a princely sum for the likes of me and you but pea nuts for the rich of the earth. (If, after five years, one sells the house he has to buy and the investment in bonds he has to make one will surely make a hefty profit. The price of a Maltese passport will then be considerably lesser than the amount I quote here.)

Let me take you across the Atlantic to the Riviera Country Club of 1250 Capri Drive, Pacific Palisades, California. This exclusive tennis and golf club does not publicly state the initial fee that one has to pay before joining; neither does it say how much members pays each year for his membership. Sources close to the sport say that the initial fee alone is a whopping fee of $250,000 (€183,000). Compare this initial fee before joining with the ad vitam fee that the above quotes person would have to pay, i.e. €114,000. The spine-chilling conclusion is that lifelong citizenship of Malta costs less that the membership of an exclusive golf club.

We are selling ourselves quite cheap, aren’t we?

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.