Cabinet agrees to amend Constitution's citizenship rules

 

The cabinet has agreed with the proposal to amend the Federal Constitution to allow Malaysian women the right to grant citizenship to their children, even if they are born overseas to foreign fathers.

This was notified in a joint statement by Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reform) Azalina Othman Said and Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail last night.

“We would like to thank the government led by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and his cabinet for realising the country’s commitment to gender equality and children’s rights.

“The proposed amendments to the Constitution pertain to changing the term ‘father’ in Parts I and II of the Second Schedule with the term ‘at least one of the parents’ to allow Malaysian mothers to get their parental rights according to the constitution,” read the statement, adding that the Constitution (Amendment) Bill 2023 is expected to be presented in the current Parliament session.

Part II of the Second Schedule of the Federal Constitution lays out the rules by which a person born after Malaysia Day can or cannot become a citizen of Malaysia.

‘Govt committed to solve citizenship woes’

In addition, amendments pertaining to Part III of the Constitution, which deals with the acquisition of citizenship, will also be scrutinised by a committee under the Home Ministry, the ministers noted.

“After the findings are finalised, they will be presented to the cabinet with feedback from the stakeholders.

“All these are in line with the government’s commitment to recognise gender equality, reject the discrimination of women, fix issues in citizenship laws, and resolve the backlog of cases involving mothers.

“After today’s (cabinet) decision, children born abroad before or after Malaysia Day will be eligible for citizenship under Clause (1), Article 14 of the Federal Constitution, as long as one of their parents is a Malaysian,” the statement concluded.

Last month, both Azalina and Saifuddin pledged that the government is committed to amending the country’s laws that concern citizenship issues, including for children born overseas to Malaysian mothers and foreign fathers.

The election manifestos of Pakatan Harapan and BN in the last general election also promised constitutional amendments that would give both fathers and mothers the right to confer citizenship to their children. - Mkini