Nationalist MP Karol Aquilina this morning reiterated his party’s call for the citizenship for sale scheme to be suspended as it is giving Malta such a bad name.

Speaking in Parliament in a debate on the OPM’s estimates, Aquilina said the sale of passports and citizenship is an “extremely dirty scheme”.

 “If this citizenship scheme is so good for our country, why did the Labour Party never mention it in its electoral campaign back in 2013? Nowhere in their campaign was the mention of selling passports or citizenships and this is because the party knew that the population are against the sales of citizenship,” said Aquilina.

“Malta is not just selling a Maltese citizenship, but also ultimately a European citizenship and everything that comes with it.”

Aquilina recalled how Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said a number of times that the sale of citizenship was aimed to bring more talented people to the island.

“We do not know who these talented people are; all we know is that they have a lot of money,” he said.

Aquilina said it is known that there are five people who bought a Maltese citizenship, who are accused of fraud, trafficking and criminality. “This is the talent we have brought to Malta,” Aquilina said.

He said that the government, which should be safeguarding the country, is allowing these people who are being investigated to buy a Maltese citizenship.

He appealed to the government to remove the sale of citizenship scheme as it  continues to harm the identity of our country and goes against the values we have worked on and gained since Independence.

In reply, parliamentary secretary Julia Farrugia Portelli said that in spite of being a lawyer, Aquilina fails to grasp the difference between a person who is facing charges and a person who has been found guilty. When someone is charged in court, it does not automatically mean that the person is guilty, she said.

She insisted that the citizenship programme is “a serious one” and is bringing in money that is being re-invested.

In its election programme, the Nationalist Party under Simon Busuttil had promised that the citizenship programme would be reviewed, but now Aquilina wants the government to suspend it. If this happens, would the PN be introducing new taxes to make up for the losses, she said.