BELIZEAN CAYE CAULKER GAL, WRITES BOOK ON LIVING IN MALTA AND GETTING RESIDENCY. MALTA IS A SMALL ISLAND WITH THE POPULATION OF ALL OF BELIZE. STILL SMALL AND VERY SCENIC.

Interesting to note that they use PROPORTIONAL REPRESENTATION IN MALTA, an ex British Colony. In Belize neither of the two major political parties want proportional representation, because it is easier for the Cabinet politicians to embezzle money from the tax revenues.

Stranger in Malta: General Elections in Malta

General Elections in Malta

Posted: 20 Feb 2013 05:52 AM PST

The Maltese people will be going to the polls on March 9, 2013 to elect a new Prime Minister. The incumbent is PM Lawrence Gonzi of the Nationalist Party (Partit Nazzjonalista, or PN for short.) His main rival and challenger in Joseph Muscat of the Labor Party (Partit Laburista, or PL for shot.)

The story goes that in 1998 the Labor Party won the election by a majority of one seat. Once in government, the party leadership behaved very erratically, and eventually the entire government resigned after less than two years into their five year mandate. General Elections in Malta are held every five years. Rumor has it that they felt that they would be unable to govern properly given the financial situation of the government at that time.

It seems like the people of Malta became disgusted with this turn of events. At the bye-election, the Nationalist Party won by a large majority and became the new government. The people of Malta have not forgotten the fiasco. The Labor Party has not been in power for twenty-five years.

The margins between the two parties are dwindling with each subsequent election, though. At the last election in 2008, the Nationalist Part won by the thinnest of margins. They are hoping (and praying?) that the jinx will finally be hexed away this election.

The Labor Party is predicted to win this election, but only who knows?

The government is elected through a process called "Proportional Representation." It is very different from the U.S. Electoral College system and the Belize "first past the post" system. Proportional Representation ensures that every vote counts. No vote is wasted. How it works, however, will have to be explained in another blog post.

There are more than two political parties contesting the election, but the Labor Party and the Nationalist Party are the two major ones.

Surprisingly, there are no political billboards or paraphernalia littering the streetside and buildings as one might expect. Politicians reach party supporters using a "town hall" format. These are highly attended by party supporters and interested citizens.

Each major party has an election party anthem. I like them both, so will post links to them here, as well as of the party slogans and the candidates.

The election slogan for the Labor Party is "Malta Taghna Lkoll" or Malta for all. The election slogan for the Nationalist Party is Futur fis Sod, which means loosely (I don't speak Maltese) "the future is solid."

Prinjolata again!

Posted: 20 Feb 2013 04:58 AM PST

Prinjolata is absolutely the most sinful, delightful, decadent, rich, luxurious pastry known to man. It's virtues cannot be extolled enough.

It has a nougat-like texture, and melts like cotton candy in your mouth. At one Euro for 100 mg, it is the best Euro you will ever spend in your life.

Unfortunately, it is only available during the Carnival season, which is now over.

VAT Lottery

Posted: 20 Feb 2013 04:49 AM PST

Every month, the VAT department conducts a "Fiscal Receipts Lottery." I highly suspect it is a way to ensure compliance and to catch VAT cheats.

All the fiscal receipts which the VAT office receives before the cut off date - which is BEFORE the 13th of the month for all receipts dated the previous month - are put into a big barrel and a drawing takes place.

About ten winners are selected each month.

The winner receives the equivalent of ten times the amount of VAT he or she paid on the receipt that was drawn. Some winners have gotten prizes of up to the tens of thousands. I strongly suspect these are contractors.

The minimum prize amount is 233 Euros for receipts with VAT paid totaling less than 50 cents.

My new book on how to file for residency in malta is here!

Posted: 20 Feb 2013 03:27 AM PST

My new how-to book detailing the steps necessary to file for residency in Malta for British Citizens is finally here. It is available in Kindle form at Amazon. Here is the link, if you are interested. I am selling it for the cheapest price Amazon will let me sell it for, which is GBP 2.49.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00BHHX5RU

(As of the time of the writing of this blog post, I had to tweak some of the formatting a bit, as it wasn't showing well on some of the ereaders. Unfortunately, it takes Amazon the better part of 24 hours to update changes, so the link will have to wait a few hours more.) However, the link is live.

OR, just click on the book's cover to go straight to Amazon. Amazon will open in a new window, so after you check out, come back and finish reading the blog.

Get your copy quick and save yourself ton of money in attorney's fees.

The book will guide you through all the steps and even provides copies of the forms you will need to fill out so you can have them at your fingertips ahead of time. Please leave feedback on Amazon.