Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail will not entertain criticism from lawyers N Surendran and Latheefa Koya on the proposed amendments to the Federal Constitution over citizenship.
He said while the former PKR members can attack him, he is dedicated to solving the issue.
"They can be noisy but they cannot erase my record of making decisions on nearly 14,000 citizens' applications in a year.
"I will not engage in clashes with them. They can attack me and I will continue to work hard to solve the citizenship problem.
"Adopted children, illegitimate children, stranded children, children born abroad, this is my priority. I will not be defeated by the attacks and criticism of Surendran and Latheefa," he told Malaysiakini.
Surendran is a former Padang Serai MP who left PKR in February claiming that the party no longer represented the spirit of reform, while Latheefa is a former MACC chief commissioner appointed by ex-prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad in 2018.
Both lawyers have been vocal in their criticisms of the Home Ministry's proposed amendments to the Federal Constitution on citizenship.
The amendments are in their final phase and will involve an engagement with MPs tomorrow in the Dewan Rakyat.
Seven out of eight proposals approved
Yesterday, Saifuddin said the cabinet had met and supported seven of the eight proposed amendments.
However, it rejected the proposal to amend the Federal Constitution regarding the right to grant citizenship to foundlings.
The ministry had previously proposed repealing Section 19B of Part III of the Second Schedule of the Federal Constitution, and Section 1(e) of the same section in the same schedule.
Two days ago, Surendran said Saifuddin's reasoning for removing automatic citizenship for children born to permanent residents in the proposed constitutional amendment was flawed.
On March 12, Latheefa accused the minister of constantly coming up with “new excuses” to justify the “cruel” amendments while in 2021 she criticised the Home Ministry saying it was peddling a “false narrative” on the issue of automatic citizenship.
The pair, both affiliated with Lawyers for Liberty, were among many stakeholders objecting to the amendments. - Mkini
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