Putrajaya will use internal mechanisms to address disagreement among MPs over proposed constitutional amendments in granting citizenship, said Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail.
This comes after a government backbencher warned that some MPs are unhappy with it and could see them voting against their party’s line.
According to Saifuddin (above), they include engagement with all parliamentarians from both sides of the divide.
"We will address the matter through internal mechanisms.
"That is why I have said before there will be engagement with all MPs, not only on the government side but also with the opposition.
"A schedule for this has already been set. We will engage all MPs to get their feedback. All of them because we want the best for this proposal," he said at a press conference this morning.
Last week, Howard Lee (Harapan-Ipoh Timor) claimed that unhappiness over proposed constitutional amendments in granting citizenship could see some MPs voting against their party’s line.
He claimed that this might happen if the Home Ministry does not adopt a "decoupled" approach to the proposed amendments.
While Lee did not specify which proposed amendments he was referring to, a source claimed that the decoupled measure suggested by the DAP leader is to separate the "positive rights amendments from the negative rights amendments".
The bill has not been tabled but interest groups who attended government engagement sessions on it have been lobbying MPs to address weaknesses in the bill.
According to the Malaysian Citizenship Rights Alliance, the bill will have seven amendments to the Federal Constitution including two that aim to give Malaysian mothers the equal right to confer automatic citizenship on children born overseas.
However, the five other amendments were criticised because they will make it even more difficult for other groups - foundlings and children of permanent residents, among others - facing citizenship woes.
Certain position
On Nov 6, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim reportedly stated that Putrajaya has to incorporate the Conference of Rulers’ views on planned constitutional amendments that will affect citizenship.
According to him, the proposal has been presented to the Conference of Rulers and that there "is a limit on what we can do after discussions (with the rulers).
"Any constitutional amendment that affects the issue of citizenship has to be cleared with the Conference of Rulers. (The rulers) have taken a certain position and we will have to honour that," Anwar had said.
The prime minister also said that his administration will explain the matter to MPs.
Anwar's administration needs a two-thirds majority for the bill to be approved. - Mkini
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