Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/683529
3 maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 25 MAY 2016 News Electoral Commissioner was 'unaware' of voting rights granted to IIP applicants MARTINA BORG AS the opposition is contest- ing the decision to grant vot- ing rights to 91 IIP (Individual Investor Programme) citizens, Chief Electoral Commissioner Joseph Church said the Electoral Commission had been "unaware" of the constitutional breaches that took place until they were f lagged by the PN. Contacted by MaltaToday, Church also confirmed that the commission has held an infor- mal meeting with Identity Malta – the authority responsible for the processing of IIP applicants – to investigate the allegations being made. "The commission is currently carrying out a fact-finding exer- cise to determine what action to take," Church added. Insisting that the investiga- tion was still a work-in-progress, Church would not say what sort of action, if any, could be taken. "We are leaving all options open. The Commission will be meeting tomorrow (today Wednesday) to discuss the issue further." Church added that the electoral commission had not been aware of the 'irregularities' before the Opposition pointed them out. Malta's electoral law allows citizens to vote in an election only if they have fulfilled mini- mum residency requirements. The IIP citizens only recently ac- quired their Maltese citizenship for €650,000. Citizenship incurs an automatic right to vote, but actually voting in an election requires that the voter would have spent in Malta six months of the18 months preceding an election. Nationalist Party deputy leader Beppe Fenech Adami once again called on the government to shoulder responsibility for the revelations in a press conference yesterday. The PN last week filed writs to strike off 91 IIP citizens from the electoral register after they were found to have been in Malta less than the six-month minimum residency requirement. The PN will be summoning the Prime Minister, the Electoral Commissioner and the CEO of Identity Malta as witnesses in the court cases to explain them- selves. "This is yet another case where an entity which falls under the office of the prime minister is condoning institutionalised cor- ruption," Fenech Adami said. He said that the government had not taken action or even is- sued a statement on the matter. Fenech Adami argued that, whilst the government had claimed that IIP beneficiaries would not be given automatic voting rights, the cases show a clear breach in the Constitution. The PN further criticised the government for creating "a real- ity of faceless voters", where in- dividuals had no idea who could be contributing to the country's future, and he went on to explain that the party would continue to investigate the identities of the people involved. The director of the PN electoral commission, Matthew Mangion, said that court procedures were expected to begin in the coming days to remove from the elector- al register the individuals' names whose identity had already been discovered. He added that the PN would also continue to inves- tigate other cases of the kind. PN deputy leader Beppe Fenech Adami and PN electoral office director Matthew Mangion Farrugia says 'temporary moratorium' would be on new developments MIRIAM DALLI A moratorium proposed by in- dependent MP Marlene Farru- gia on development would cov- er new developments, where permits have not yet been is- sued. Speaking to MaltaToday, Far- rugia said she had yet to draft the parliamentary motion and will do so once she has con- sulted green NGOs. "The call for a master plan has long been raised, especial- ly by different green and herit- age NGOs," Farrugia said. The independent MP said that public land should not be simply dished out to busi- nessmen for the development of residential units or hotels without first taking into con- sideration environmental and social impacts. The master plan, Farru- gia said, would safeguard the quality of living, economic sustainability, the environ- ment, the social and cultural impact and the infrastructural requirement. She went on to argue that such studies should be drafted periodically: "The result of a study will vary once a new de- velopment takes place." Farrugia said emphasis should be given to how in- creased construction would impact tourism: "Moody's have once again pointed to Malta's successful tourism industry, which begs the question, do we want another Doha or Singa- pore? Is our success in tourism the result of our cultural and historical richness?" She insisted that fresh devel- opment should not stand in the way of Malta's unique charac- teristics. Although Farrugia has yet to draft the motion, it isn't yet clear which projects would be opposed. She however said that projects already underway would not be affected by the motion. The master plan would ex- tend from Pieta to Bahar ic- Caghaq and would be drafted by experts who enjoy the trust of the government, the opposi- tion and the public. "We need to safeguard our country, our people's quality of life, and give investors a level playing field with clear cut briefs within which they can plan and operate," Farrugia said. "It will not be about stop- ping construction but ensur- ing that it is sustainable." New plans include the con- struction a 36-storey tower on the Villa Rosa area at St George's Bay as reported in MaltaToday, as well as plans to develop the former ITS site in St Julian's into a high-rise hotel. "We are turning the island in- to a land of concrete and glass structures which in themselves have a life span," she said. Farrugia went on to question whether plans and methods for any future demolition of the same structures have been taken into consideration.