Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1198602
09.01.2020 2 NEWS THE Maltese passport has come in joint ninth place in a list of the world's most powerful passports compiled by Henley and Partners, a global citizenship adviso- ry firm. Released on Wednesday, the index measures the world's most travel-friendly passports, offering visa-free or visa-on-ar- rival access. Malta is tied for ninth place along with New Zealand, Czechia, Canada and Aus- tralia with 183 points. However, Malta's passport has gone down in the index; having been ranked seventh in 2019. Japan for the second year in a row, tops the list out of 191 destinations. e top 10 passports are: • Japan • Singapore • South Korea, Germany • Italy, Finland • Spain, Luxembourg, Denmark • Sweden, France • Switzerland, Portugal, Netherlands, Ireland, Austria • United States, United Kingdom, Norway, Greece, Belgium • New Zealand, Malta, Czech Repub- lic, Canada, Australia • Slovakia, Lithuania, Hungary Ranked among the worst passports are Afghanistan, followed by Iraq, Syria, So- malia and Pakistan. Henley and Partners were awarded a concession by the Maltese government to sell citizenship to wealthy foreigners. e controversial scheme, known as the Individual Investor Programme, requires the individual to pay a sum of money and invest in property and government bonds in exchange for Maltese citizenship. Maltese passport is ninth 'most powerful' worldwide NATIONALIST Party leader Adrian De- lia has requested the Commissioner for Standards in Public Life to investigate a breach of ethics after the prime minister refused to declare how he financed an al- leged €20,000 spend to fly to Dubai over the course of three days. Muscat and his spouse and two children flew on a business or first-class Emirates flight to Dubai on Friday 27 December, returning after three days. Muscat has insisted the trip was his pri- vate business, refusing to speak about it to the press. "It's none of your business. It is my personal… private funds. I think you had better ask who received those watch- es," Muscat said in a reference to gifts from the Tumas business group to former ministers and government officials. Delia also made reference to claims in the media that the Muscat family's tickets might have been purchased in Jordan. Muscat was also seen in the lobby of the Corinthia Hotel in London with Saad Djebbar, who has a desk at Carter Ruck, the London law firm hired to defend Muscat and other government figures over press reports on the Caruana Galizia assassination. It was Muscat's fourth trip abroad with- in a few weeks, having previously visited the Vatican City, Bethlehem and Dubai. All the trips took place after Muscat an- nounced he would be stepping down later this month after the Labour Party elects a new leader. Djebbar represented the widow of for- mer Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, Suha Arafat, who visited the Muscats in Burmarrad shortly before their trip to Bethlehem. Djebbar, who is well networked in the Arab world, IS known to be close to the ruling family in Qatar. Five members of the Qatari royal family are among those who in 2018 acquired Maltese citizenship through the controversial cash-for-pass- port scheme: Sheik Mohammed Ahmed J. Al ani, his wife Hanadi and their chil- dren Jassim, Jude and Layana. In 2016, Al ani set up Monifa Wings Company Limited in Malta, an aircraft broker that provides air transport ser- vices, lease aircraft and operator charter flights. Al ani is better known as the former director-general of Al Jazeera, which he took over in September 2011. He left in 2013 upon becoming minister of the economy. Opposition leader Adrian Delia says prime minister must explain his private three-day family trip to Dubai Delia requests Standards investigation into Muscat's weekend trip to Dubai PM Joseph Muscat has flown to Dubai in the company of his wife and children