Malta may have just lost its dignity or is on the verge of losing it. The controversy about the selling of Maltese citizenship to people who have a strong financial backing, will be awarded the gateway to EU member states.

The applicants will pay €650,000 in a donation to the National Development and Social Fund, €16,000 to €350,000 by way of a property acquisition and €150,000 in government stocks, of which €10,000 will be a non-refundable deposit.

The Labour government has approved one of the most controversial laws so far.  This newly introduced citizenship scheme is giving away what are grandparents worked for, in achieving the hard sought freedom and independence that many other countries wish for. We are throwing it out with a stroke of a pen.  

The Opposition felt that our citizenship should not be considered a commodity. This scheme allows the holder easy access to all EU countries and to travel from Paris to London, Rome to Madrid and all around Europe without any problems.

Another issue that has raised eyebrows is keeping the identity of these new citizens secret. If the granting of citizenship is to entice a greater spectrum of investors from the international market, then why the secrecy? In the end the outcry consequent to this issue led the position to be dropped.

The passport scheme controversy has led to various debates around Europe such as within Austria and especially within the UK. Recently the Austrian Government stated that comparisons made by the Labour Party of the scheme enacted in Malta with the Austrian scheme are odius. It went beyond this and a senior diplomat in the Foreign Affairs Ministry in Vienna commented that “By no stretch of the imagination can Maltese politicians cite the situation in Austria to justify the Maltese scheme.”

Therefore there is no comparision in what happens in Austria and in Malta, as their scheme is much more different than that of the Maltese Government. Their passports are just not being put on sale like the Labour party is doing.

The European Parliament will be debating ‘European Citizenship up for sale’ in its 15th January session, having already deemed this to be problematic not only in relation to benefits of European Citizenship but also from an ethical perspective.  And to think that we had to come out with such a scheme during the European Year of Citizenship!

Henley and Partners who won a public concession to market and sell what is known as the Individual Investor Programme, or the citizenship scheme expects around 200 to 300 foreign individuals will be acquiring Maltese citizenship every year after the initial pilot phase of the project, yet Edward Scicluna has suggested to the Committe of the European Parliament that he is willing to cap this at 50.

To say it all, in one way or another, the Government is trying to show it listens and after society’s outcry has sat with the Opposition to find consensus. Yet to do so, the Prime Minister and his entourage must propose a much more dignified and respectable scheme in promoting our citizenship to other countries, if the case shall be that we end up keeping such a scheme.

As to the Government’s latest revision on the ‘sale’ of the Maltese citizenship, altough he increased the rules as to who is elegible or not, our citzenship is still  being sold for €1.15 million, including a property acquisition and investment in government stocks.

The government must realise and recognise that such a proposal has led many newspapers to take the mickey out of such a situation and even our country. Look at the Italian newspaper, asking rhetorically whether Berlusconi will consider buying a Maltese citizenship in order to contest for the elections of the European Parliament. On issues which are of national interest, the government and the opposition should seek consensus as only this would ensure that the level of respect Malta had garnered during the economic crisis is retained.

In my opinion any foreigner interested in this scheme ought to be assured that no matter what the price tag for the citizenship paper is, Maltese citizenship is about loyalty to one’s culture, identity and way of life.  Once a citizen he or she is expected to contribute towards ensuring that Malta remains a respectable economy of persons of calibre.  Actually of such calibre that is based on principles rather than monetary value.