Opposition leader slams government's budget proposals

Opposition leader Simon Busuttil has accused the government of pre-planning the Individual Investor Scheme (IIP) prior to its election, insisting that the "sale of the Maltese passport for a mere €650,000 donation" was never mentioned in the election run up.

"Joseph Muscat and the Labour administration already know the beneficiaries of the scheme. The scheme was pre-planned by Labour, and its stamping of feet will only lead to the undermining of the Maltese citizenship," Busuttil reiterated in the regular Sunday radio interview.

Dr Busuttil also stated that the Maltese citizens are against the scheme, a claim supported by the MaltaToday survey revealing that 53% of the Maltese are against the sale of the citizenship for the given price.

The Opposition and the government have been playing tug-of-war over the citizenship scheme with the PN tabling a series of amendments to the scheme, which all but one were rejected by the government during yesterday's parliamentary sitting.

"The Nationalist Party will remain against the programme in principle and the party would vote against it during next Tuesday's parliamentary sitting. The government is steamrolling on the Opposition and the Maltese citizens as did not consult anyone of the scheme facilitating the sale of the Maltese identity," the Opposition leader said.

Simon Busuttil urged that the programme is amended to include a minimum investment threshold and argued against the government's blatant refusal to accept PN's amendments in view of the "prostitution of Maltese citizenship."

Meanwhile, Busuttil bemoaned the government's lack of job creation measures, lamenting the budget as "dishonest and distorting the truth."

"The government created numerous measures to encourage people to enter into the labour market. However, these people would not be met with any jobs as the government's budget measures failed to address the soaring unemployment rates," he said.

Dr Busuttil concluded that while the PN government enhanced the economy through the introduction of measures in numerous sectors, such as the gaming and pharmaceutical sector, Joseph Muscat is only committed to spending the state's hard-earned money. "That money was earned by previous PN governments through perseverance and cautious economic approach. The budget contemplates the distribution of wealth but has no suggestion for wealth generation", the Opposition leader said.