Citizen Bill: Ministry of Interior has been presented to the Council of Rulers and needs further refinement
KUALA LUMPUR: The Ministry of Home Affairs (KDN) has presented the Constitution (Amendment) Bill 2024 regarding citizenship at the Council of Rulers on Thursday and received positive feedback about it.
Its minister, Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail, however, said there are still matters that need to be refined with the Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) before it goes through a second reading in the Dewan Rakyat.
In addition, he said, the ministry is also ready to continue engagement sessions with relevant non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and provide justification for the recommendations contained in the amendment.
“The process to present the Constitutional Amendment under the title of citizens continues. Even today, the KDN was invited to present it to the Council of Kings, but it needs to be further refined with Suhakam.
“(The response of the Council of Rulers) is very, very positive, but I can’t say more because the Council of Rulers’ meeting will usually be followed up with official minutes of the meeting. Only then can I make further announcements,” he said.
On March 24, 2024, the Constitution (Amendment) Bill was read for the first time in the Dewan Rakyat, among other things aimed at lowering the age limit for applying for citizenship from 21 years to 18 years.
The media reported that the amendment was to harmonize the voting age in Malaysia and the definition of children provided for in the Children’s Act 2001 (Act 611), as well as the age of adulthood under the Age of Adulthood Act 1971 (Act 211).
In addition, it also involves amendments to Clause (2) of Article 15 of the Federal Constitution and amendments to several other provisions in Part III of the Federal Constitution.
In the meantime, Saifuddin said that he had examined the counter-proposals regarding the amendments prepared by the Malaysian Citizenship Association (MCRA), and he had taken the opportunity to provide explanations and justifications for the amendments in a meeting with them last Tuesday.
“I tend to give more weight to my meeting with Suhakam chairman Datuk Hishammuddin Yunus two days ago, who also had the opportunity to present their views to the Council of Rulers compared to NGOs.
In my meeting with him in my office, I had the opportunity to explain every detail of the proposed amendment. I listened to the counter views, and among our agreements regarding the citizen’s application, the KDN needs to hold an operating procedure (SOP) in the case of a citizen’s application,” he added.
MCRA, in its counter proposal, among other things, urges the Ministry of Interior to separate the mother’s amendment from the amendment they consider regressive and to continue the presentation of the mother’s amendment as previously agreed.
They also urged the Ministry to ensure that the mother’s amendment takes effect retroactively and immediately suspend the regressive amendment pending further study and consultation.
