Azalina to table private member’s bill on citizenship for children

 

Pengerang MP Azalina Othman Said says the bill needs the support of all MPs.

PETALING JAYA: Pengerang MP Azalina Othman Said has filed a motion to table a private member’s bill for a constitutional amendment to grant overseas-born children citizenship through their Malaysian mothers.

Azalina submitted the motion to Dewan Rakyat secretary Nizam Mydin Bacha Mydin on Sept 15 requesting that the bill be tabled at the next Dewan Rakyat sitting on Oct 3.

Azalina, who is the chairman of the parliamentary special select committee on women, children and social development, said the bill seeks to amend Part II of the Second Schedule of the Federal Constitution to insert the words “or mother” after the word “father” in Clauses (1)(b) and (1)(c).

The clauses state that every person born outside the Federation on or after Malaysia Day, whose father is at the time of the birth a Malaysian citizen, will be considered a Malaysian citizen by operation of the law.

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The proposed amendment seeks to extend this to include mothers.

The High Court ruled last September that a constitutional provision for citizenship derived from Malaysian fathers should be extended to cover mothers or either parent.

However, the decision was overturned by the Court of Appeal on Aug 5.

In a majority ruling, the court held that the constitutional provision referred to the biological father and could not be extended to include the mother or parents.

The judges said it was up to Parliament, not the court, to rewrite the constitution.

Several other MPs have also submitted private member’s bills on the matter. They are Segambut MP Hannah Yeoh, Lembah Pantai MP Fahmi Fadzil, Kuantan MP Fuziah Salleh and Lanang MP Alice Lau.

In August, Azalina had said she doubted that the bill would “see the light of day” unless it was supported by other MPs.

She also said that leaving thousands of children stateless and in limbo was unjust and unethical.

Law minister Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar then said many steps were required in the process to amend the Federal Constitution and to provide automatic citizenship to overseas-born children of Malaysian women. - FMT