Labour MP Marlene Farrugia has called for a form of residence requirement for those seeking to acquire Maltese citizenship, saying that citizenship  should not be treated like a commodity with a price tag.

In a Facebook post in reaction to a report in timesofmalta.com about the PN's criticism that Henley and partners were only intent on making millions from Malta's scheme, the MP wrote:

"We do not begrudge the money any investor makes by investing in our islands and our people, as long as that investment is creating dignified , well paid jobs for our countrymen and is conducive to upholding Malta's pride and honour.

"The Leader of the opposition has to understand that Judicial protests and negative stands are not going to put bread on our families' tables.

"Like him we do not want our citizenship to be treated like a commodity with a price tag, but he knows as well as I do that a reasonable period of residence for a number of weeks a year+ investment+ ownership of property can do away with the sale stigma and produce an acceptable investment scheme.

"To insist that potential investors spend years living in Malta prior to obtaining citizenship is unrealistic because these kind of investors globe trot incessantly and hardly spend months anywhere at a stretch, let alone years.

"A decent period of total residence per year after granting citizenship in addition to investment and property ownership should give us a good capital injection in our economy while saving Malta's face.

"Let's go for it, because our competitors are having a feast day as we waste time and energy in negative stances."

Parliament is due to debate the rules governing the citizenship scheme in the coming days. Opposition leader Simon Busuttil last Sunday called on governemnt MPs to stand up and be counted over the issue.