PUTRAJAYA: The Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) plans to suggest that the government make the Bahasa Malaysia version of the Federal Constitution the authoritative text of the constitution.
Attorney-General Idrus Harun said the AGC also planned to reprint the Federal Constitution to include “historic” amendments that have been made in recent times.
“These two plans are subject to the approval of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong,” he said at the opening of the legal year here today.
Among the historic constitutional amendments made in recent times are the lowering of the voting age from 21 to 18 and automatic voter registration, gazetted on Dec 1, 2021.
Idrus said there was another constitutional amendment coming up that will need the support of the legal fraternity, involving Malaysian mothers passing on their citizenship to overseas-born children.
He also said the bid to abolish the mandatory death penalty required legal support, describing it as “yet another uphill battle”.
“The amendment bills to amend the relevant laws are due to be tabled once again in the coming parliamentary session due to the dissolution of Parliament (in October).
“It is hoped that our democracy remains intact and could reach greater heights with the formation of the new government and that the proposed amendments would come to fruition,” he said.
In January, law and institutional reform minister Azalina Othman Said said a Cabinet memo had been drawn up proposing an amendment to the Federal Constitution to grant overseas-born children citizenship through their Malaysian mothers.
As it stands, children born overseas to Malaysian women are not entitled to automatic citizenship as the constitution only provides for citizenship through fathers.
Azalina also said the government will amend laws that carry the mandatory death sentence to allow for alternative sentencing in the new parliamentary session beginning in February. - FMT
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