Gozitans should have right to exit EU pledge Partit Popolari

Mar 16 2022

Third political party Partit Popolari has pledged to give the right to Gozitans to be able to exit the European Union if they so wish.

Explaining in their Electoral Manifesto, the party states that Gozo’s citizens should be able to decide for themselves whether or not to stay in the EU. However, they would still remain part of the Maltese state.

The manifesto states how this is modelled upon other member islands and territories of the EU such as Faroe Islands, Greenland as well as the way Channel Islands and Isle of Man were once considered.

The party also has other pledges which reconsider the territorial and political structure of Malta as a whole. The party is proposing that Malta is split into three regions – North, Centre and South.

Each region will have its own government elected by the citizens who are residents of that region. The central region will be a majority urban region which will have the responsibility of providing services and infrastructure required to a city of around quarter of a million inhabitants.

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Partit Popolari pledge to build Formula 1 track in Malta if elected

Mar 16 2022

Third political party Partit Popolari has pledged to build a Formula One track in Malta, with their electoral manifesto highlighting how the party plans to do so.

The party pledged to built the track through land reclamation and aims to create the conditions in Malta to make the island the main centre for motorsports in the Mediterranean region.

Yesterday afternoon, the announcement was made by Education Minister Clifton Grima that works on the national centre for motorsport has just started. The national centre will kick off with an investment of €20 million.

The third party is also proposing that wherever possible, roads facing the sea around harbour areas will become pedestrian zones. Access for cars will only be reserved for residents and the unloading of services.

Partit Popolari are also proposing a grid of bicycle lanes as well as roads with bicycle priority in the entire urban zone. The measure aims to facilitate the use of bicycles in Malta by raising such vehicles to public transport status.

Transport centred pledges made up most of the electoral manifestos by all political parties as they seek to address the problem of traffic and transport in Malta. Among them are the PL’s Metro as well as PN’s trackless tram.

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PN’s trackless tram will use arterial roads as single lane

Mar 16 2022

PN candidate Ryan Callus revealed that the trackless tram proposed by the party will see arterial roads from where it will pass narrowed to a single lane.

Callus said that the choice was between the current traffic filled roads and the trackless tram which aims ti make it easier for people to leave cars at home. The tram, Callus said, would run on arterial and distributor roads on a dedicated lane.

Callus said that the tram will take up one of the lanes and will not take up additional land to widen any roads. People will understand the importance of taking the tram rather than using their cars, said Callus as he was asked by journalists on Tuesday night.

Callus said the Labour’s metro proposal is too expensive and would take too long to implement. He insisted that the Labour Party itself abandoned the proposal in its manifesto by saying it will study the concept further.

The trackless tram would cost around €3 billion said Callus – half the cost of the metro – and be developed in five years as opposed to 20 years needed for a metro system. He also insisted that the PN will not tax people to implement its proposal.

The costings of the PN, Callus said, will be released before the election, but would not reveal when.

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Citizenship of three IIP applicants revoked during entire scheme

Mar 16 2022

According to parliamentary secretary Alex Muscat, three applicants to Malta’s IPP had their citizenship revoked throughout the entire run of the scheme.

The news was revealed to MaltaToday by Muscat, who said that three applicants had their citizenship revoked due to misconduct on their side after the Maltese passport was issued.

The three applicants were of Egyptian, Chinese and Russian nationality, but Muscat reiterated that no applicants have been placed under sanctions as a result of the invasion of Ukraine.

The government will still be taking action against sanctioned individuals who acquired Maltese citizenship however. This applies to anyone who received a passport through the citizenship by investment scheme and those who acquired it by other means.

The European Parliament and European Commission are on the same page for calling time on elites who use Malta to buy citizenship. There has been an impetus by the EU to crack down on European citizenship-by-investment schemes, a.k.a golden passport schemes.

Almost all of the European Parliament voted in favour of a legislative proposal which asks Brussels to propose a law shutting down golden passport schemes. Malta’s four Labour MEPS were the only members of the S&D group not to vote in favour of the report.

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