Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/252940
Opinion 25 maltatoday, SUNDAY, 2 FEBRUARY 2014 T he latest developments regarding the Individual Investor Programme following meetings between representatives of the European Commission and the Government of Malta led to Opposition leader Simon Busuttil claiming victory. What he is celebrating remains unclear, in view of the fact that he was the one who insisted that the IIP is to be scrapped. He is the very same person who led his Nationalist representatives in the European Parliament to present the motion against Malta. He is the one and same person who jubilantly stated that in five years' time a PN government will retract such citizenship. The PN's modus operandi on this issue – both locally and in European for a – very much reminded me of Eric Arthur Blair, or George Orwell as he is better known, who continues to provide the staple for secondary school students of English literature – at least those following the Anglican educational system. Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty Four are read and digested year after year by thousands of school children on our island. The Orwellian notion of Big Brother watching you is often propounded by critics of European governments that are installing CCTVs throughout major cities. Critics and authorities are constantly wrestling between the need for security and civil liberties. Little did Orwell know that one of his darkest fictional creations, the telescreen, would indeed become a reality – not in the form of the two-way screen installed in every apartment of Oceania, but rather in the form of online surveillance and harvesting of digital data. What would surely make Orwell turn in his grave is the fact that it was not a nasty totalitarian government that used the 'telescreen' to spy on our lives but the champion of the free world! So distraught was the European parliament that it dedicated an entire day – 3 July 2013, to be precise – debating this affair and whether it should adopt the: 'European Parliament resolution on the US National Security Agency surveillance programme, surveillance bodies in various Member States and their impact on EU citizens' privacy'. It beggars belief that this resolution on such a vital issue was discussed, agreed upon and released in more or less the same time that it took this same institution to deal with the 'issue' of Malta's Individual Investor Programme. One can only imagine what yardstick was used by our Nationalist MEPs to push for a resolution on Malta's very own IIP and place it on a par with the US surveillance scandal. Given that their actions were guided by Simon Busuttil and his advisers, this is hardly surprising for he and his acolytes are showing little, if any, sense of judgement. This brings me to the judicial protest filed by the Nationalist Party, who seem to have an infinite supply of party tricks up their sleeve. But these party tricks are simply illusions and far removed from reality. Busuttil should know better than to turn up at court and attempt to pull a bunny out of a top hat. Some simple research would have brought to his attention the Rottmann Judgement of 2010. I do not wish to delve too deeply into legal speak but I must point out some salient points from this ruling by the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Justice. Whereby reference was made to the Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness, (New York 1961) mainly Article 7 of that convention which is worded as follows: 'A State Party may not provide in its internal law for the loss of its nationality ex lege or at the initiative of the State Party except in the following cases: (a) voluntary acquisition of another nationality; (b) acquisition of the nationality of the State Party by means of fraudulent conduct, false information or concealment of any relevant fact attributable to the applicant.' The Grand Chamber further stated that: 'A state Party may not provide in its internal law for the loss of its nationality under paragraphs 1 and 2 of this article if the person concerned would thereby become stateless' Therefore the State can never withdraw citizenship as both the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and ECJ case law do not support such a retraction. With its recent actions, it certainly seems as though the Nationalist Party is fighting everyone's corner, except Malta's. In any case, the way that Malta's citizenship programme is being treated can be considered as Orwellian to the very bone. To (mis)quote from his other classic: "All citizenship programmes are equal… but some are more equal than others" or, just as relevant: "All citizenship programmes are equal but some are LESS equal than others". Miriam Dalli is a Labour candidate in the forthcoming European Parliamentary elections Miriam Dalli YOUR FIRST CLICK OF THE DAY www.maltatoday.com.mt CALL FOR PROPOSALS FOR THE PROVISION OF VENDING MACHINES (Ref: PR01/2014) The Malta Environment & Planning Authority (MEPA) is responsible for land use planning and environmental regulation in Malta. The The overall objective of this call for proposals is to identify bidders interested in providing vending machines in 3 different MEPA premises (including 1 in Gozo), for a period of 5 years, renewable annually. These vending machines are to supply food, hot and cold beverages. The call for proposals document can be downloaded from the MEPA website on the following link: http://www.mepa.org.mt/info-proposals The The presentation of the proposals should satisfy the conditions mentioned in Section 6 – Proposal Format (Page 4 of the Call for Proposals Document) and deposited in the proposals box at the MEPA premises in Floriana by Friday, 14th February 2014 before 10.00a.m. Any Any questions concerning this call for proposals should be addressed to the Director of Corporate Services on email tenders@mepa.org.mt by not later than Tuesday, 4th February 2014 before 4.00p.m. MEPA reserves the right to refuse part, or whole / any or all of the proposals submitted, including the most advantageous. Late submissions will not be considered. www.mepa.org.mt Of false dilemmas One can only imagine what yardstick was used by our Nationalist MEPs to push for a resolution on Malta's very own IIP and place it on a par with the US surveillance scandal