A critical statement on the residency-by-investment scheme released by the Nationalist Party on Friday exposed an internal rift, the Prime Minister said yesterday.
Joseph Muscat said the statement by PN deputy leader Beppe Fenech Adami flew in the face of consultations that had been going on with the Opposition over the scheme. Dr Muscat said the government had changed some aspects of the scheme after receiving feedback from PN deputy leader Mario de Marco.
“Within the PN, there is the proactive faction, which wants to move forward, and the faction that wants to remain negative at all costs... Unfortunately, it seems the negative faction is prevailing,” he said during a brief phone-in on One Radio, the Labour Party station.
Dr Fenech Adami had slammed the scheme that would see residency permits being issued for foreigners who make a substantial investment in Malta.
He said that, in the wake of court proceedings against accountant Joe Sammut over fraudulent applications for residency on behalf of Libyan clients, the scheme should be stopped.
Dr Muscat said that his government was adamant about fighting abuse and the Sammut case was a sign of this.
In a joint statement, Dr de Marco and Dr Fenech Adami shot down what they described as the Prime Minister’s “invention”. They insisted the Opposition had at no time said it was against the residency-by-investment scheme but argued it was not the way to fight institutionalised corruption.
Within the PN, there is the proactive faction, which wants to move forward, and the faction that wants to remain negative at all costs
“The confirmation that [Joseph] Muscat does not want to fight institutionalised corruption is the fact that he does not even want to admit it exists,” they said.
In a separate dig at the Opposition, the Prime Minister said it was poor in maths and geography.
Dr Muscat accused the Opposition of being short-sighted in its criticism on fuel prices when it based its calculations on weekly fluctuations.
The PN called on the government to lower the price of petrol and diesel as crude oil plunged to $40 per barrel last week. However, the price quoted by PN shadow energy minister Marthese Portelli was not that of Brent crude oil, with which Malta benchmarked its products, but WTI, a benchmark used in the Americas, Dr Muscat said. The PN had said motorists in Malta were paying among the highest prices for fuel across Europe.
Dr Muscat was unapologetic for his government’s policy to pursue price stability in petrol and diesel as opposed to the previous administration’s policy of changing fuel prices every month.
He said the price of fuel had consistently been reduced since 2013 for the long haul.
With reference to “an exclusive” front page report in the PN’s Sunday newspaper Il-Mument last week, which said the Transport Minister was on a visit to North Korea, Dr Muscat said the Opposition could not understand the difference between North and South Korea. The report was mistaken because the visit was to attend a conference in South Korea, he pointed out.
kurt.sansone@timesofmalta.com