Updated | ‘Government prostituting country’, says Puli on golden passport

Opposition MP Clyde Puli likened the citizenship scheme to the "buying of second-hand cars or a can of peas from the supermarket".

Addressing Parliament, Puli said the citizenship scheme was "an indecent proposal, with government giving a price to everything and value to nothing".

Parliament reconvened early this morning for its third session discussion the citizenship scheme, referred to by the government as the "citizenship by investment".

On the other hand, the Opposition insists the scheme was tantamount to "the selling" of citizenship or passports.

In an impassioned speech, at times verging on the patriotic, Puli accused the government of "prostituting" Malta.

"And now the government wants to give discounts as well... as if we were dealing at a discount store," Puli said.

In his onslaught against the citizenship scheme, Puli said Henley & Partners, the exclusive concessionaire for the IIP scheme, had an interest to ensure that the highest number of Maltese passports should be sold.

This, Puli said, would result in an interest that went against Malta.

At one point, the Nationalist MP started citing Mary Spiteri's Tema 79 from rock opera Gensna - a song often sung during Labour Party events as it commemorates Freedom Day. He argued that Labour's position was now "contradictory".

Like previous speakers from the Opposition side, Puli referred to government consultant Shiv Nair, blacklisted by the World Bank. "How can government expect us to believe in the due diligence which is being promised, when they didn't even realise that Shiv Nair had been blacklisted?" he said.

Puli went on to describe Nair as "a fraud, corrupted and without credibility".

"The government is now opening its doors to opportunists and corrupted people," he said.

Earlier, Nationalist MP Kristy Debono asked why the government had not included the citizenship programme as part of its electoral programme.

She insisted that citizenship was in itself a concept that gave a sense of belonging, "and therefore it should not be put up for sale".

The Opposition, Debono said, met Henley & Partners during which the exclusive IIP concessionaire was asked why the scheme was not tied to investment.

"And Henley said that the government had been in a rush," she said.

Debono also asked what government planned to do with the funds generated by the fees. She said that the government had not been clear in his plans.

Prime Minister Joseph Muscat - who envisages a €30 million income next year - has said that €15 million will go towards the budget and the rest injected in a national development fund.

The Opposition is yet to take a stand on the proposed Individual Investor Programme (IIP) as it is still looking into the details of the draft legal notice.

Even though the leader of the Opposition declared that the party was "against the selling of citizenship in principle", MPs have urged government to seek consensus on the law.

The Nationalist Party is adamant that the programme should serve to attract persons who invest and create jobs in Malta, beyond the funds generated by the fees paid by applicants.

The speakers from the Opposition side insisted that the PN was not against investment, but against awarding citizenship without doing enough to attract long-term investment. The requirements, the PN argued, are non-existent and should at least include a residential period.