The Nationalist Party is afraid that the citizenship scheme being proposed by the government will prove so successful that it will hurt its chances in the next general election, according to Home Affairs Minister Manuel Mallia.

Dr Mallia was addressing a hastily-announced press conference on the proposed individual investor programme, in which he was flanked by parliamentary secretaries Edward Zammit Lewis and Owen Bonnici, yesterday afternoon. The event lasted well over an hour.

The programme, through which Maltese citizenship can be acquired against a contribution of €650,000, is most often described as the sale of citizenship, but Dr Mallia repeatedly insisted that this term was an attempt at spin by the programme’s detractors. At one point, however, Dr Zammit Lewis did describe it as just that, pointing out that “those who want to buy Maltese citizenship do so because they are interested in the country”.

Dr Mallia argued that the programme would be highly beneficial to the Maltese economy, since the wealthy individuals it would attract would cause an economic multiplier effect. He insisted that the PN was afraid that the programme would be so successful that it would harm their chances of electoral success, before stating that the party wishes it was capable of coming up with such ideas itself.

The proceeds from the programme, he stressed, would go into a fund through which the new Maltese citizens would “invest” in the wellbeing of fellow citizens. He said that these investments would help improve roads, ensure better pensions and guarantee the sustainability of social services, among other things.

The minister said that the PN’s “scaremongering” would only lose it votes, and that such tactics failed to dissuade the majority of the Maltese from backing the initiative. In a reference to the reservations expressed by several individuals and social partners, he went as far as stating that the PN was banking on the support of those who were “traditionally affiliated” to it.

He denied that the programme would damage Malta’s reputation, stating that what was damaging it was the PN’s criticism, and its assertion that it would withdraw any citizenship granted through the programme if elected to government. He insisted that a party with so many lawyers should know better, while Dr Bonnici subsequently insisted that such a proposal was unconstitutional.

The parliamentary secretary said that a PN government would be within its rights to stop the programme, but was highly critical of its apparent intention to revoke citizenship “at the stroke of a pen” without the opportunity for redress. He also questioned how the party would tackle the requests for refunds those whose citizenships were revoked would make.

Dr Zammit Lewis, on the other hand, noted that he was impressed by people’s positive reaction to the programme when he participated in a London conference promoting it last Thursday.

Commenting on the fact that the conference took place even though the programme has not yet been approved in Parliament, Dr Zammit Lewis pointed out that this was clearly mentioned at the conference, although he said that the PN’s “destructive” criticism was not referred to, as he did not want to damage the country’s reputation. He said that the government believed in parliamentary scrutiny, but it also believed in delivering: Dr Mallia himself lambasted the previous government for being indecisive.

Both Dr Zammit Lewis and Dr Mallia later argued that the government needed to implement the programme in short order, stating that other countries would be willing to seize the opportunity if Malta did not. They observed that ultimately, countries would be competing over just “hundreds” of individuals worldwide.

The three Cabinet members also dismissed suggestions that the programme would attract questionable characters, insisting that the screening of applicants would be a rigorous process. They pointed out that while Henley & Partners – which has already been selected to administer the scheme – would make recommendations, it was ultimately up to the newly established agency Identity Malta and the Home Affairs Ministry to decide on applications.

The proposed amendments to the Maltese Citizenship Act would do away with the requirement to publish the names of people granted Maltese citizenship, and this secrecy was questioned by the journalists present.

But Dr Mallia insisted that this was a sensitive matter, and that there were valid reasons for not disclosing the names of those granted citizenship through the programme. He added that Henley & Partners had even explained these reasons to the PN.

The proposed amendments introduce a new offence, mandating a fine of up to €20,000 for those who publish or disseminate publicly any information relating to the programme without authorisation. But Dr Mallia denied, when asked, that this provision could be interpreted in a way to prosecute those who leaked the names of anyone benefiting from the programme.

The measure, he explained, aimed to ensure that information on the programme would not be distorted, in light of the sensitive issue at stake. Dr Zammit Lewis later pointed out that this has been a problem in the past, noting that some had promoted the now-defunct Permanent Residency Scheme by giving the erroneous impression that applicants would gain citizenship rights.

Dr Mallia, however, did later point out that whoever, “as a joke” offered to sell Maltese citizenships for €650,000 on eBay was committing a crime that would be punished by law, stating that such jokes were damaging to the country. Such an offer actually surfaced in recent days.

Government wants to sell citizenship cheaply ‘at all costs’ – PN

In a reaction to the press conference, the Nationalist Party insisted that the government wanted to sell Maltese citizenship cheaply and at all costs, stating that the three Cabinet members used weak arguments to justify the sale of citizenship in the face of the national interest.

The party pointed out that Prime Minister Joseph Muscat was curiously absent at the press conference, which was held at the Auberge de Castille.

It said that the press conference made it clear that Dr Muscat was being stubborn in sticking to a position that would damage the country’s reputation, and that he was choosing to ignore the objections of financial services sector professionals who were warning against the introduction of the programme.

It dismissed criticism of its plans to withdraw all citizenships granted though the programme if it is elected to government, pointing out that Dr Mallia himself acknowledged that the present law already provided the right to withdraw a citizenship given to a foreign national.

Dr Mallia had pointed out that the law allowed for this if naturalisation was obtained by means of fraud, false representation or concealment, stressing that the government would do so in case those who obtained citizenship through the programme did so fraudulently.