MPs challenged to defy party whips, reject citizenship amendments

A human rights activist has challenged all MPs to defy their party’s whips if the lawmakers were asked to support the proposed amendments to the Federal Constitution regarding citizenship.

Speaking in a forum last night, Buku Jalanan Chow Kit co-founder Siti Rahayu Baharin urged all parliamentarians to reject and vote against the citizenship amendment bill in the Dewan Rakyat.

“Free yourselves from the party whips, YBs.

“If everyone says you have to listen to (Home Minister) Saifuddin (Nasution Ismail) because he is your senior... I hope you will be daring enough to stand up to the truth.

“Don’t follow the whip. Use your voice, the voice given to you by the people, to reject this very regressive bill,” Rahayu (above) said.

She made this call at a forum titled “Hak Asasi Manusia Di Bawah Saifuddin Nasution - Apa Sudah Jadi?” organised by several NGOs at the Advance Tertiary College in Kuala Lumpur last night.

The highly controversial bill was first supposed to be debated and voted on in March but the government at the time moved to end the Dewan Rakyat session just before the debate.

It was once again postponed during the July Parliament session.

Saifuddin said the bill had been presented to the Conference of Rulers again but is still in need of fine-tuning.

Saifuddin, who is also PKR secretary-general, confirmed that the second and third readings of the amendment bill will be tabled in Parliament during the upcoming session in October this year, when the 2025 budget is expected to be tabled.

The bill would, among others, grant Malaysian women the right to pass down citizenship to their children born overseas.

However, activists have criticised the government for not making that right retroactive, meaning mothers who have been actively campaigning to get their children citizenship would not benefit from the law.

READ MORE: KINIGUIDE | How could constitutional changes make more people stateless?

These are among other issues with the bill, which activists argue could render more people stateless.

There is also speculation of pushback from government MPs against the bill.

The bill would require the support of two-thirds of Dewan Rakyat members, which is 148 votes, as it involves amending the Constitution.

Saifuddin needs to do his job

While acknowledging that Saifuddin and his ministry had vetted and approved outstanding citizenship applications, Rahayu reminded the minister against boasting about it as it is his responsibility to solve matters pertaining to citizenship.

“I want to remind YB Saifuddin that that’s the bare minimum of his work.

“You (Saifuddin) are paid to do that and you chose to do it.”

In June, Saifuddin was reported as saying that it is his mission to resolve the outstanding 14,000 applications for Malaysian citizenship by the year’s end.

Further, Rahayu asserted that those who are stateless are not asking to be defended but for their citizenship rights to be returned to them.

“They work very hard to live and continue their lives. Trust me, we (activists) work with these people.

“They are poor because they have been oppressed by the system as a result of being stateless. They are not lazy people,” she added.

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