The PN is against the selling of Maltese citizenship but is in favour of a serious individual investment programme, the deputy leader for parliamentary affairs, Mario de Marco said this afternoon.
Giving details of the PN's position on the government's Individual Investor Programme, Dr de Marco said that the Opposition has already held talks with the government to try to convince it to change the proposal.
Making it clear that the PN is against the concept of cash for citizenship, Dr de Marco said that the government was insisting on its position as it was only interested in a quick buck.
Prime Minister Joseph Muscat has said that the government hopes to make €30m from the scheme in its first year. Investors would be required to pay €650,000 for Maltese citizenship.
Dr de Marco said the Opposition was suggesting that citizenship should only by given to a restricted number of individuals who commit themselves to a long term investment in the country.
He said that the government's proposal did not guarantee that Maltese citizenship was taken seriously, and the government was therefore compromising Malta's reputation in the international sector.
He appealed to the government to accept Opposition proposals aimed at safeguarding Malta's reputation while attracting serious investors.
The press conference was also attended by Nationalist MPs Tonio Fenech and Jason Azzopardi.
GOVERNMENT REACTION
In a reaction, the Home Affairs Ministry said it was surprised that the Opposition had held a press conference about the subject when talks were still under way. The Opposition had been 'somewhat constructive' in the talks, but today's press conference cast doubts on its intentions. The government would, however, continue to show good will and was prepared to continue the talks, even though today's comments could be harmful to the country.
The ministry said the government would consider suggestions made to it, it was not prepared to reduce the investor programme to the extent that it would make it unworkable and burdened with bureaucracy.
The former government had already killed of the Permanent Residence Scheme, which used to be beneficial and it was this government which revived it with the Global Residence Programme.
The government said it was being advised by overseas experts chosen after a public call. It was not prepared to lose out to other countries which had launched similar schemes.
and