The Prime Minister should disclose how many visas and residence permits had been withdrawn because of abuse, the Nationalist Party said yesterday.

The PN was commenting following Identity Malta’s statement on the residency permit system. The party said that Prime Minister could not hide behind the statement and had to ensure that public institutions worked efficiently and free from corruption.

Identity Malta said on Wednesday that, “months ago”, it introduced a “rigorous” system to detect residence permit abuse, allowing it to reject or revoke applications that contained false information. “The fact that people are being arraigned proves that the proper checks and balances are in place,” it said.

It was reacting to a statement by the PN, which noted that the Prime Minister had remained silent on the arraignment of former Labour Party treasurer Joe Sammut over fraud, forgery and misappropriation charges. The PN said the silence was cause for concern, especially in view of allegations that hundreds of companies had been fraudulently set up through Mr Sammut to enable Libyans to obtain visas and residence permits. This had national security implications, it added.

Earlier, PN deputy leader Beppe Fenech Adami questioned why the Home Affairs Minister and the Labour Party executive had also remained silent when allegations about Mr Sammut were made.

“The Maltese public has the right to know what is happening in the country’s public institutions,” the PN said.

“Joseph Muscat can’t remain silent and continue to undermine trust in public institutions. He must show commitment to stamp out institutionalised corruption,” the party said.