The Nationalist Party today said the government is still to explain why a Vietnamese MP had been allowed to buy a Maltese passport.

The MP was dismissed when it was revealed that she had broken the law by buying the passport, but 48 hours after her dismissal was made public, the government and the Prime Minister are still to explain why the MP was allowed to buy the passport, a situation that raises doubts on the due diligence exercise that was carried out in her regard.

It is evident, the PN said in a statement, that in her case the due diligence either did not take place or, if it did, it did not uncover the fact that such a passport should not have been sold to the MP because she was breaking the law in her country and, also, she is a politically exposed person.

Reports of her dismissal have not been denied, and the PN is insisting that Prime Minister Muscat clarifies the situation.

 

The PN took the opportunity to criticise the Labour government on another matter, saying that a country like Vietnam gave a good example by dismissing the MP who had broken the law, while the Maltese PM had defended a minister and his chief of staff who had secretly opened companies in Panama.