Sunday 09 Feb 2025
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KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 17): The Dewan Rakyat on Thursday passed the amendment to the Federal Constitution on citizenship laws with more than the required two-thirds majority support.

In a bloc vote, 206 out of 207 Members of Parliament (MPs) present voted in favour of the Constitution (Amendment) Bill 2024, while one MP voted against it. Fourteen MPs were absent, and one was suspended.

The Bill was debated by 74 MPs after it was tabled for a second reading by Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail in March.

The Bill, among other things, seeks to address several long-standing issues regarding Malaysian citizenship, including granting automatic citizenship to children born overseas to Malaysian mothers.

However, some parties have raised concerns about the amendments to the Second Schedule Part II, Article 14(1)(b), Section 1(a) of the Federal Constitution, which currently states that anyone born in Malaysia to at least one parent who is a citizen or "permanently resident" in Malaysia is automatically granted citizenship.

The amendment seeks to remove the term "permanent resident", which means that children of permanent residents born in Malaysia will no longer automatically receive citizenship by operation of law. Instead, they will have to apply for citizenship by registration.

When winding up the debate, Saifuddin said that the standard operating procedures (SOP) for handling citizenship applications have been approved by the Cabinet.

With the SOP in place, applicants will be guided on the submission process, such as being informed upfront about the required documents to avoid delays, Saifuddin said.

"Applicants will know early on if their documents are incomplete, reducing the risk of rejection after a long wait," Saifuddin said.

The minister said the majority of citizenship applications fall under Articles 15A and 19(1) of the Federal Constitution, which pertain to citizenship by registration and naturalisation, such as children born out of wedlock and adopted children.

Nevertheless, Saifuddin said he has approved a total of 32,153 applications since taking office, with 19,317 processed so far this year. He further pledged to resolve all pending citizenship applications within one year.

With the Constitution (Amendment) Bill 2024 passed by the Dewan Rakyat, it will now be referred to the Dewan Negara, before being presented to the King for royal assent and gazetting.

Edited ByS Kanagaraju
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