Labour MP Deborah Schembri today said that the Opposition seems to find citizenship granted through marriages of convenience acceptable, yet it is against the government’s citizenship scheme.

Speaking in Parliament, Dr Schembri said that through her experience as a family lawyer, she has come across many a woman who has been duped into a marriage of convenience.

“It is alright for someone to ruin a person’s life through a marriage of convenience, but citizenship through an investment of €650,000 is not acceptable to the Opposition,” Dr Schembri said.

She also said that the government’s Individual Investor Programme is not a programme that sells citizenship.

Dr Schembri said that normal day-to-day cash transactions take place without any questions being asked. She said that under the IIP, investors will be made to go through a rigorous due diligence process, therefore it is not just an ordinary cash transaction.

“It is an investment and not a donation. A donation is altruistic. It is unacceptable that the Opposition it trying to deceive the population and do damage to Malta. A substantial part of the money will go into a national development fund,” Dr Schembri said.