Citizenship row: PM publishes Fenech’s praise for Henley

"One firm which we have had the pleasure of working with is Henley & Partners. Internationally recognized as the firm of choice for residence and citizenship planning, we sought their advice for the reform of our residence schemes."

Words of praise from Tonio Fenech, former finance minister, who penned this accolade for the Individual Investor Programme's concessionaire Henley in a foreword to their Global Residence Handbook.

The foreword was published yesterday by Prime Minister Joseph Muscat during his reply yesterday to Simon Busuttil's budget speech, where he took to task the Nationalist Party's fragmented opposition to the IIP, which will sell passports to naturalized citizens for €650,000.

"Their knowledge and expertise in this area are truly unrivalled and they have imparted to us

some very valuable advice," Fenech writes in his foreword to the Henley handbook - a statement that Muscat said contradict the Opposition's criticism of picking Henley as the concessionaire to exclusively introduce the IIP to applicants and carry due diligence on their applications for naturalisation.

"Today, the world looks very different, and countries find themselves competing not only for

international talent but also for investors, entrepreneurs and high net-worth individuals and families. Malta has risen to the challenge... we need to engage professionals who understand the investor immigration world and who can help us make the case that Malta is a prime destination of choice."

Henley were in fact drafted by Fenech to consult on a new High Net Worth Individuals scheme that replaced its forerunner, the Permanent Residency Scheme, before being replaced again by the new Labour administration with the Global Residence Scheme.

Muscat yesterday also published a legal opinion from the Attorney General, saying that Simon Busuttil's threat to withdraw IIP citizenships, if elected to government, was unconstitutional.

Attorney General Peter Grech said the deprivation of citizenship can only be made for specific reasons at law, and if the minister "is satisfied that it is not conducive to the public good that that person should continue to be a citizen of Malta" and without rendering the person stateless.

Grech added that persons whose citizenship is withdraw can demand an inquiry about the proposed deprivation. "The law as it stands quite clearly excludes the wholesale deprivation of citizenship to a class of naturalised citizens irrespective of their conduct or individual circumstances."

Grech said that IIP citizens will have the same protection against any form of discrimination, and would be protected from any class deprivation of citizenship even if the law is changed. "The law may not sanction an arbitrary exercise of power."

The House of Representatives yesterday approved the controversial bill amending the Maltese Citizenship Act through which non-EU citizens will be able to buy Maltese citizenship by paying a €650,000 donation.

Following a long wait due to a 20-minute procedural suspension, as expected the Opposition voted against the Individual Investor Programme (IIP), yet the government's nine-seat majority ensured that the bill came through unstuck.

All government MPs, with the exception of foreign minister George Vella and education minister Evarist Bartolo, both abroad, voted in favour of the bill, while all 30 opposition MPs voted against. 

The award of citizenship through the controversial scheme is expected to yield €30 million for the public coffers, half of which will go directly in the Budget presented on Monday and the remaining €15 million invested in a national development fund - an injection that will enable the government to limit the extent of indirect taxation in the budget but exposed the government to criticism of devaluing Maltese citizenship.

The scheme has attracted harsh criticism from many quarters, with the Green Party proposing an abrogative referendum to repeal the scheme which it said would damage Malta's reputation.

On Monday, opposition leader Simon Busuttil reiterated his promise that a PN government would not only repeal the IIP but it would also withdraw citizenship granted under the scheme. Moreover, the PN leader hinted that the opposition would sit on the Monitoring Committee and would publish the names of those granted citizenship immediately.

On Saturday, the government defeated all bar one of the opposition's amendments to the golden passport law, with the PN's amendments to link the scheme to long-term residency and investment all failing to be approved.

The Opposition wanted to have citizenship granted on condition of a minimum five-year residence and a minimum €5 million investment in the Maltese economy. Additionally, at least 30 days' residence in Malta would have to take place annually.

Furthermore, the PN proposed the removal of the secrecy clause, arguing that it would tarnish the country's reputation and Maltese citizens had a right to know who was being granted citizenship.

The latest MaltaToday survey published on Sunday proved the latter argument correct, with the majority of respondents expressing their opposition to the IIP citizenship scheme proposed by the government.

The MaltaToday survey shows that with the exception of a slight majority of Labour voters, there is widespread opposition to the new citizenship scheme among all sectors of society.

The survey showed that an absolute majority are in principle against the sale of Maltese citizenship to foreigners. While 53% are against the sale of citizenship to foreigners willing to pay €650,000 as proposed by the government, 10% would only grant citizenship to those who make a significant investment in the country over and above the €650,000 donation. Only 26% of respondents said they wee in favour of the bill.