Muscat: ‘Destructive Opposition is against IIP’s success’

Joseph Muscat may have carried the IIP in the House but in his address to the Labour Party's Gozo AGM, he was still selling the golden passport scheme as "an innovative idea" set to attract "the best talent to Malta and create wealth"

He used words such as "unprecedented calibre" to describe the law that will sell passports for €650,000, which he has estimated can bring in €30 million for the public coffers and create new jobs.

He used the occasion to direct a good dose of criticism at the Opposition. "It's clear from its destructive attitude that the Opposition doesn't want it to be a success. But nobody is taking it seriously when it threatens to repeal citizenship... only totalitarian regimes behave in that manner."

He argued against the Opposition's demand to cap economic citizenships, saying that the same reasoning would apply to foreigners marrying Maltese. "Foreigners who marry Maltese, become Maltese citizens themselves, benefit from social benefits, receive free healthcare and their children receive free education. And that is how it should be. And just the same, I want to welcome the rich who are able to pay and invest in our country," he said.

He also poured scorn over the fact that the PN voted against appointing a regulator, proposed as former Cabinet secretary Godwin Grima. "They definitely cannot say that Grima is close to Labour," he said.

Muscat reiterated that it would be unconstitutional of the Nationalists if they had to repeal the citizenships.

On the budget, Muscat said the Maltese had become accustomed to a negative budget right after a general election, postponing electoral promises to later on in the legislature.

"But like I used to say, this was going to be a budget of surprises... and we surprised many," he said.

He reiterated the government would be reducing deficit to under 3% of GDP by the end of the year, despite a European Commission autumn forecast which stated otherwise.

Muscat said while it was true the government would be pocketing an additional €21 million, "we are going to give back €60 million in new measures, excluding the cost of living adjustment".

He said that the Opposition leader had been grossly mistaken when he calculated the increase in tax burden per capita by dividing government's total revenue by 400,000. "If he were to be a student studying economics, his teacher would have told him to choose another subject," Muscat quipped.

He said the government's budget was to help middle class families and these were to benefit from a €75 tax cut. "It's all about making work pay; about fighting tax evasion and creating the incentives to encourage more people join the workforce."

Muscat also warned the government would be doing a "clampdown" on those who would persist in evading tax.

He also briefed the Gozitans on a measure set to encourage more women join the workforce. The budget proposes that married women, aged over 40, who return to work after a five-year absence and are employed on minimum wage, will not pay taxes. According to the Prime Minister, this would result in couples saving €800 in taxes.

Muscat said the Opposition had laughed off suggestions that the government would be providing free childcare centres or that it would refund the VAT paid on car registration. The latter measure will be implemented over seven years.