PUTRAJAYA, March 22 — The government has agreed to seven out of eight proposed amendments to the Federal Constitution involving citizenship issues tabled by the Ministry of Home Affairs (KDN).
Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said the matter was agreed upon in a Cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim here today.
“Today, I made a presentation to the Cabinet. All the proposed amendments took into account the opinions of all parties, including after the Prime Minister held discussions with Unity Government component party leaders and chief whips,” he told a press conference here.
Saifuddin said the other constitutional amendment that was not agreed to by the Cabinet, namely the one regarding Articles 19(b) and 14(1)(e) will remain as they were in the Federal Constitution.
He said all the proposed amendments had also gone through a lengthy engagement session handled by the KDN before being tabled.
Saifuddin said he personally will hold another engagement session with the government’s backbenchers on Monday to give them further explanation about the proposed amendments.
He also expressed hope that the amendments would be passed in Parliament later as it would enable every citizenship application to be processed faster using clearer methods, terms of regulations and mechanisms.
Prior to this, KDN identified eight issues to be included in its proposed constitutional amendments related to granting citizenship to children born abroad to Malaysian mothers married to foreign spouses.
— Bernama
