What the Sunday papers say…

Malta Today leads with the news that John Dalli's former cabinet chief, Joanna Darmanin - presently the head of Commissioner Tonio Borg's cabinet - may replace Martin Bugelli as the Commission's head of representation in Malta.  With government still licking its wounds in the aftermath of the European Parliament's vote, in which it overwhelmingly voted for Malta to amend its IIP scheme, Darmanin's appointment could serve as a further blow for government.

Malta Today also reports that the Commision's legal experts are considering whether Malta can be forced to change the IIP, after Prime Minister Joseph Muscat made it clear that Thursday's EP vote will not stop the scheme from being carried out. The Commission said that it could start infringement proceedings against Malta, and if a scenario arises whereby the government refuses to comply, Malta could even be taken to the European Court of Justice on the "principle of cooperation".

Sunday's newspaper Illum reveals that one in every four students at the St Paul's primary school are of a foreign nationality. The statistic, published by the Ministry of Education, shows that 210 of the 838 students are foreigners. With a similar scenario at the Gzira primary school, the demographics of school children in Malta seem to be heading towards a more multicultural trend.

The sister newspaper also reads that the Nationalist Party, who in the past few months has been very critical of the company chosen by government to carry out due diligence in the IIP scheme Henley & Partners, seem to have had a very different relationship with the legal company up until not too long ago. In fact, in November 2012, Tonio Fenech, who was then Minister for Finance, accepted an invitation from Henley & Partners to speak at a conference, which was being organised by the company itself.

The Sunday Times says that an unnamed ex-F1 champion, pop singer and a 'prominent Gulf royal family member' are among those interested in applying for Maltese citizenship under the IIP scheme. Also, the paper reveals that Scotland's biggest bus firm, McGill's, is considering placing a bid for Malta's public transport service tender. Contacted by the newspaper, the company's managing director Ralph Roberts confirmed that the firm was "seriously looking at the opportunity".

The Malta Independent on Sunday says that the Nationalist Party is prepared to commit itself to a PL-leaning President when it returned to power.  Busutill said that the 'experiment' undertaken by ex- Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi in choosing George Abela as President five years ago, had worked well and that he would have no qualms in nominating a Labour-leaning candidate if given the opportunity to.  Busutill also claimed to 'have a name in mind' if he were to be consulted by the prime minister for the upcoming appointment of the president.

General Workers Union newspaper it-Torca takes a dig at Simon Busutill for being content at Malta's name being mentioned in the recent EP vote, in which the parliament overwhelmingly voted in favour of Malta amending its IIP scheme. The paper says that the Opposition leader was against the naming of particular member states when an MEP, but was now content doing it to gain political points.

PN newspaper Il-Mument names and captures the MEP representatives who voted against the amending of the IIP scheme on Thursday. Entitled 'Friends of Muscat: Extremists who want out of the EU', the list features Marine le Pen, Mike Nattrass and Miguel Angel Martinez amongst others.