Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/972198
• James Debono On the island of gods and animals: how Muscat's yardstick changes PAGE 2 • Kurt Sansone Why no one in Labour will flinch PAGE 3 • INTERVIEW Mark Camilleri PGS 14-15 • Saviour Balzan The narrative being played out PAGE 19 • Raphael Vassallo "Those demanding 'justice' are perfectly content to cling to almost any hypothesis simply because it conforms to their own suspicions" PAGE 24 Labour's torrid week: media revelations, protest and... anger? Newspaper post maltatoday today today SUNDAY • 22 APRIL 2018 • ISSUE 963 • PUBLISHED EVERY WEDNESDAY AND SUNDAY YOUR FIRST READ AND CLICK OF THE DAY WWW.MALTATODAY.COM.MT Mark Camilleri Why the 'right to forgotten' will punish freedom of information PAGES 10-11 €1.95 A dangerous precedent? MATTHEW VELLA MALTA'S commissioner for infor- mation and data protection has up- held a refusal by Identity Malta not to release detailed statistics on the agents of Malta's sale of passports to the global rich. Statistics into Malta's sale of citi- zenship for €650,000 continue to be shrouded in secrecy because of the authorities' willingness to safe- guard commercial information for the agents of the Individual Inves- tor Programme. The IDPC upheld a refusal by Identity Malta not to release how many applicants were promoted for the IIP by each agent, and how many of these applicants were suc- cessful in acquiring Maltese pass- ports. There are 171 agents selling Mal- tese citizenship, apart from con- cessionaire Henley & Partners, which devised the programme. They include Big Four account- ancy firms as well as other mid-tier corporate services providers, and legal firms led by partners with po- litical allegiances from both sides of the Maltese political divide. MaltaToday requested a full breakdown of the successful ap- plicants, and how many depend- ants were attached to the individ- ual applicants. The sale of Maltese citizenship originally came capped with a limit of 1,800 main applicants, but the government is now prepar- ing to extend the scheme, which is billed as having generated over €590 million in direct payments to the State, €360 million of which are deposited in a posterity fund. Identity Malta originally refused MaltaToday's request claiming that the data was "confidential commercial information" that would have adverse effects on the financial interests of the govern- ment if disclosed. MaltaToday submitted that Iden- tity Malta had not proved how the data's disclosure could out- weigh the public interest served by disclosure, when it was clear that Identity Malta was already furnishing data on nationalities, property purchases and receipts to the IIP regulator. PAUL COCKS THE executive chairman of the Building Industry Consultative Council has refused to bow to pres- sure from board directors after MaltaToday last Sunday re- vealed that he had passed his official vehicle to his wife for her personal use and leased another car for himself at the council's expense. Former Labour min- ister Charles Buhagiar, appointed to the post of executive chairman after the 2013 election, admit- ted last week that BICC had leased a second vehicle after he decided to put an official BMW320 aside in- stead of repairing some damage to it, and that his wife had made use of the vehicle on numerous occasions. Sources within the BICC said that at least three sitting members of the BICC's executive board told Buhagiar that he should resign, or at least suspend himself from the post until an audit review is concluded and the find- ings published. Buhagiar has however refused to budge. The office of the per- manent secretary within the Ministry for Transport and Infrastructure had al- so confirmed that a review of accounting practices at BICC had been ordered. That review was in fact launched on Tuesday and, already, many red f lags have been raised. Charles Buhagiar PAGE 5 IVF Bill No surprises from MPs as parties divide themselves over far- reaching reform in artificial reproduction treatment PAGE 7 6 Buhagiar resists resignation option mooted at BICC board "If it takes Muscat to step down so Schembri and Mizzi go... I'd say it's a necessary development" PAGES 14-15 Information commissioner upholds refusal to give MaltaToday data on which agents are selling the most Maltese passports to the global elite On the island of gods and animals: how Muscat's yardstick changes Why no one in Labour PGS 14-15 "Those demanding artificial reproduction Privacy watchdog says disclosing IIP data could damage passport sale Identity Malta is refusing full transparency on the sale of Maltese passports