Beneficiaries of the Individual Investors Programme cannot have their Maltese citizenship revoked arbitrarily, as this can only happen if the applicant becomes a threat to national security, the Government said yesterday.
National Security Minister Manuel Mallia made this statement in the wake of declarations made by the Opposition that a Nationalist government would revoke the citizenship granted through this programme.
Labour is selling Maltese passports on the cheap- PN
Dr Mallia cited Article 10 of the legal notice regulating this programme, which states that citizenship can only be deprived if an applicant has “become a threat to national security or is involved in conduct which is seriously prejudicial to the vital interests of Malta”.
Though the Individual Investor Programme has not yet been approved by Parliament, on Thursday Prime Minister Joseph Muscat flew to London for the official launch during an event organised by Henley and Partners.
Dr Muscat sought to allay fears that applicants would risk losing their citizenship as well as the €650,000 fee, in case of a change in government, by quoting the Attorney General who said that such an act would be unconstitutional.
Though by the time of going to print the Parliamentary Secretariat for Justice did not reply to a request by The Sunday Times of Malta for a copy of the advice given by Attorney General Peter Grech, sources said this reflected the arguments made yesterday by the Home Affairs Minister.
Dr Mallia was addressing a news conference at Castille, flanked by Parliamentary Secretaries Owen Bonnici and Edward Zammit Lewis.
Asked by The Sunday Times of Malta about the fact the Government seems to be in a rush to enact this programme, Dr Zammit Lewis said Malta had to convey the message that it was acting fast, especially in the face of harsh competition. He added that the country could not wait any longer as other countries such as Bulgaria were already at an advanced stage to introduce such a programme.
Dr Mallia said the Government was not prepared to publish the entire contract with Henley and Partners for security reasons; however, he said the commercial part had been published and showed that, for each successful application, the concessionaires, Henley and Partners, would receive a four per cent commission, rather than €140,000 as the PN had claimed.
Meanwhile, both parties yesterday traded charges with the PN, saying that the Labour government was selling Maltese passports on the cheap, and that the programme lacked transparency. The PN insisted that both the Constitution and the Citizenship Act provided for the revocation of citizenship, adding that even Dr Mallia had acknowledged this during the news conference.
On its part, the Labour Party challenged the PN to say who had given it such advice, saying that the party was playing into the hands of the private firm which had not been awarded the contract to manage this programme.
Labour added that rather than admitting his mistake, the PN leader was persisting in his negativism.
the sunday times of malta I November 3, 20137