Finance regulator Joe Bannister has urged everyone to give the government and Opposition “the space and time” to reach consensus on the cash-for-citizen-ship scheme.
Prof. Bannister, chairman of the Malta Financial Services Authority, was asked to attend the two meetings held so far and provide advice.
When contacted, he insisted it was good that the parties were in discussions but was reluctant to give an assessment on how far apart the two sides were on the matter after a second inconclusive meeting held on Saturday.
“Had there been divergence on principle I wouldn’t see any scope for them to meet but this is a complex issue and agreement cannot be reached quickly,” he said in his first comments on the matter.
Asked by Times of Malta about his role, Prof. Bannister said he was “bridging the gaps of information” by explaining what was happening in other countries.
“The meetings are being conducted by the parties and I am not chairing them. I was invited to give advice and ultimately it will have to be a political decision that has to be taken on the best way forward,” he added.
Prof. Bannister confirmed a third meeting will be held, although no date had been set for it.
While both sides are tight-lipped on the talks’ progress, Opposition leader Simon Busuttil yesterday emphasised his party would not budge on the principle that citizenship should not be sold.
This is a complex issue and agreement cannot be reached quickly
“We are against the idea of selling it [citizenship], and we have made it clear since the very beginning,” Dr Busuttil told party supporters in Nadur.
He insisted the Nationalist Party was only open to discussions if the scheme was based on investment but was willing to reach consensus in the national interest.
Meanwhile, in a telephone interview on One Radio, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat refrained from addressing the matter “out of prudence” while consensus was still being sought.
PM ‘has a lot to say’ on plans
Dr Muscat was in Miami last week to address a conference on residence and citizenship organised by Henley & Partners, the consultancy firm entrusted with managing the Malta scheme.
“I have a lot to say but I do not want to give anyone an excuse to disrupt the talks,” Dr Muscat said, adding the government was waiting for the discussions to end before publishing the legal notice that will implement the law. He insisted the scheme, which in its current form will enable non-EU nationals to acquire citizenship for €650,000, will change the face of Malta.
“It is not only because of the financial gain but also because of the talent the country will acquire,” he said. Dr Muscat thanked Prof. Bannister for putting forward his thoughts and expressed hope that consensus will be reached.
But the Prime Minister’s overtures were met with criticism from Dr Busuttil, who said the government had ridiculed and steamrolled over the Opposition by enacting a law that tarnished Malta’s reputation.
“Somebody within the government should shoulder responsibility for the damage caused to the country’s reputation,” he insisted, adding that the government’s claim that the Opposition was behind criticism in the international media was “ridiculous”.
Dr Busuttil said that the government should have acknowledged that the scheme was “intrin-sically flawed”, noting that the Union Ħad-diema Magħqudin and other social partners had also expressed their reser-vations about it.
Additional reporting by Keith Micallef.