Golden passports scheme continues to damage country's reputation - ADPD

The sale of citizenship continues to damage the country’s reputation and neither the Government nor the Opposition is willing to pull the plug on it, Malta’s green party said.

Addressing a press conference on Saturday, ADPD leader Carmel Cacopardo, pointed out that the golden passports scheme “is intrinsically wrong and should be terminated immediately.”

Cacopardo highlighted that a green party member of parliament would have immediately presented a motion asking for its termination.  

“No current MP is currently willing to submit such a motion,” he said.

He added “the fact that persons close to both the Labour Party and the Nationalist Party, including the current Prime Minister Robert Abela, have benefitted unashamedly from the sale of Maltese citizenship may explain why the government has been dragging its feet and continues to bring our country to disrepute worldwide.”

As regards the so-called 'necessary changes' to the 2014 original scheme which were carried out in 2020, Cacopardo said they were simply a case of window dressing.

“No matter how many changes are made to the passport sales scheme, this remains unacceptable in principle. As had been stated in the European...