Malta will not halt its ‘golden passport’ scheme despite Metsola’s calls to ‘close loopholes’

Malta will not its halt 'golden passport' scheme despite Metsola's calls to 'close loopholes'

Feb 25 2022

The government has confirmed that Malta’s golden passports scheme will remain available for the moment despite calls from multiple political figures to halt the programme after Russia began to invade Ukraine on Thursday.

Deputy Prime Minister and Health Minister Chris Fearne praised the passport scheme, stating that it offers a significant amount of revenue for the government’s community projects. During Thursday’s political event in Birzebbugia, Fearne specifically highlighted that the income from the passports funded a newly refurbished healthcare centre in Gzira.

Meanwhile, European Parliament President Robert Metsola called upon European leaders to halt sales of golden passports as “The Kremlin has long thought it could buy its way into Europe. It is time to close any loopholes, end the dangerous phenomenon of golden passports that provide a backdoor to European citizenship.”

In spite of this, Prime Minister Robert Abela has stated Malta’s rejection rate is already high, with rigorous research and analysis before passports are granted.

What do you make of this?

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€1,000 grant to parents & working mothers & wage increase for teachers among PN proposals

Feb 24 2022

The Nationalist Party’s extraordinary general council meeting this evening saw party councillors approve the electoral manifesto ahead of the March 26 election, with key party members revealing and discussing notable proposals.

Amongst others, the Nationalist Party pledges to enact a number of measures which aim to ensure a work-life balance amongst parents with a one-time grant of €1,000 for each child. The aforementioned will also apply to parents who had children from January 2017 onwards. Mothers heading back to work will also receive a €1,000 grant as an incentive for returning to the workplace. In addition to this, they will either be exempt from income tax or will have to pay a small amount, thus women who do not have a significant salary may also benefit from such an incentive.

With regards to local educators, the PN is also proposing improvement in working conditions amongst educators on all levels. Measures will include incentives for prospective educators, sustainable salary increases, an increased effort on work-life balance and training & development of work-relevant skills.

What do you make of these measures?

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Fearne steps in for Labour rally as Abela heads to Belgium amid Ukraine crisis

Feb 24 2022

Earlier this evening, Deputy Prime Minister and Health Minister Chris Fearne stepped in for Robert Abela during their political meeting in Birzebbugia.

Prime Minister Robert Abela was urgently called to Brussels, along with other world leaders, to attend an urgent meeting addressing potential sanctions on Russia after it invaded Ukraine on Thursday morning.

The discussion also featured AWLA presenter and lawyer Luke Dalli and a local architect calling for an increase in green spaces in Malta.

Watch the full meeting below:

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Nationalist Party proposes 4-day week pilot project; to incentivise participating businesses

Feb 24 2022

This evening, the Nationalist Party held an extraordinary general council meeting to approve the party’s electoral manifesto ahead of the March 26 election.

Amongst other proposals, one in particular highlighted that a PN government will enact incentive schemes for local businesses which participate in a national 4-day week pilot project. Back in October, Finance Minister Clyde Caruana had ruled out the possibility of a 4-day week in Malta’s near future. Caruana had revealed that the model would be considered once worker productivity and skillsets improved in Malta.

Following rigorous trials and testing, the four-day work week proved “overwhelmingly successful” in Iceland with workers moving to shorter hours across the country.

What do you make of this?

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