Home Affairs Shadow Minister Jason Azzopardi yesterday accused the government of “blatant abuse” in the issuing of Schengen visas, especially to persons from North Africa and China, and against the advice of the Immigration police.

More worryingly, he said, residence permits, which were the first step before one could apply for citizenship, were being issued without verification that the address given was genuine.

Speaking during the Budget debate on the Ministry of Home Affairs, Dr Azzopardi explained that a residence permit was needed before one applied for Maltese citizenship.

He asked whether it was true that a permit had been issued to a Russian national in May and to a man from the Gulf in October, even though they did not have a Maltese address.

Was it true that Identity Malta was giving the applicants advice to say that they were members of a sailing club or a fitness club, to pretend they were residents?

Was it true that Identity Malta was giving applicants advice to say they were members of a sailing or fitness club?

Dr Azzopardi asked whether it was true that reports had been received by Identity Malta and the Home Affairs Ministry that foreigners had stolen the addresses of Maltese residents in Swieqi and St Julian’s in order to obtain citizenship. He insisted on answers about these cases, and the name of the agency that was an accomplice in this fraud.

In his winding up, Home Affairs Minister Manuel Mallia said Dr Azzopardi appeared to be confusing issues when he asked questions about “theft of addresses” and the issue of visas. It was not true that visas were being issued “like cheesecakes”. The number of visas issued this year was actually lower than before.

As for the claim of “address theft”, the authorities actually demanded to see lease agreements for proof of residence before issuing residence permits.

Interjecting, Dr Azzopardi said he never linked the granting of visas with the citizenship scheme, but pointed out that residence permits were needed before one applied for citizenship.

Earlier, Dr Azzopardi quoted at length a Sunday Times of Malta article listing what it called “Minister’s 20 months of blunders”.

He said these clearly pointed to “incompetence, abuse of power, lack of good judgment, cover-ups and political dishonesty”.

He quoted retired judge Vanni Bonello who said there were “alarming signs of politicisation in the Armed Forces of Malta and the Police Corps”. Describing this as an “annus horribilis”, Dr Azzopardi said the biggest mistake was to have the same minister responsible for defence, home affairs and the secret service – there was no clear separation of powers.

This was a special ministry which also incorporated broadcasting – simply to satisfy the ego of his chief of staff.

Otherwise how would one explain including this sector under the same ministry as the army, the police and civil protection?

He referred to the accelerated promotions which took place within the Armed Forces, saying these were simply “politically appointed puppets on a string”.

Competent officers have been pushed aside

The minister, Dr Azzopardi said, was at “war” with the Ombudsman so that he would not be subject to scrutiny. He did not even have the decency to reply to the ultimatum given to him.

Dr Azzopardi listed the problems which had cropped up within the AFM, where the chain of command had been broken and political interference had become the norm. Competent officers had been pushed aside and those chosen to attend courses were also handpicked in contrast with the previous method of having applicants chosen by a board.

The Opposition, Dr Azzopardi concluded, would stand up for what was right.

Francis Zammit Dimech said under law broadcasting should not form part of home affairs but of the culture ministry.

Public broadcasting had to be impartial. He agreed with Education Minister Evarist Bartolo that there should be a system of checks and balances, together with separation of powers, to ensure that the party in government was held accountable.

He said the government lacked clear direction on the sector and asked how the PBS editorial board could ensure impartiality on news policy when one of its members had been a former editor of the Labour weekly newspaper.

Dr Mallia said that Dr Zammit Dimech failed to mention that a former Nationalist MP was a member of the same editorial board.

Referring to the film industry, Dr Mallia announced that this year the number of films shot in Malta was 500 per cent more than last year.

The Malta Film Commission had recently participated in six international festivals to promote the local industry and held more than 150 appointments with different companies and producers.

He said investment in human resources was made in all disciplines corps, giving them the right to join a union of their choice.

As of next year, members of the disciplined forces would be compensated if they were injured at work. During the past 24 months, 120 members of the police force were hurt in line of duty.