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Govt ready to implement new citizenship rules, just waiting for date from Agong - minister
Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said that the government is ready to enforce a constitutional amendment which grants equal rights to Malaysian mothers to pass down citizenship.
He said the only thing he is waiting for is an enforcement date to be set by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong.
"I'm just waiting...
Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said that the government is ready to enforce a constitutional amendment which grants equal rights to Malaysian mothers to pass down citizenship.
He said the only thing he is waiting for is an enforcement date to be set by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong.
"I'm just waiting for that. If tomorrow the Yang di-Pertuan Agong consents to a date, (saying) 'enforcement starts Oct 14', then it will be enforced starting Oct 14.
"We're just waiting for that," he said during a Madani town hall meeting in Sungai Petani, Kedah last Saturday.
The National Registration Department uploaded a video of Saifuddin's (above) remarks yesterday - a day after the Joint Action Group for Gender Equality (JAG) released a statement bemoaning the delay in implementation.
/file/publisher-c1a3f893382d2b2f8a9aa22a654d9c97/2023/10/63f22bd91fdbaaaa17cb73ce9f35e229.jpg "kad pengenalan IC ID citizenship generic 071023")
Previously on Sept 12, Bernama reported Saifuddin as saying that the Yang di-Pertuan Agong had already set an enforcement date, and that this date would be revealed once several administrative matters are finalised.
It is not clear what has changed since then.
Passing down M'sian citizenship
Among others, the constitutional amendments aimed to resolve the inability of Malaysian women living abroad and married to non-Malaysians to pass down Malaysian citizenship to their children.
The amendments were passed in the Dewan Rakyat on Oct 17, 2024 and gazetted in March 2025.
The new law is not retroactive, meaning only children born after the enforcement date are eligible for automatic citizenship.
Meanwhile, in his speech on Saturday, Saifuddin also reiterated his commitment to resolving citizenship cases.
He said there were 50,000 pending cases when he came to office, and now there are only about 3,000 yet to be dealt with.
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I support this because a Malaysian mother should have the same right as a Malaysian father to pass citizenship to her child. Our citizenship should not count for less simply because we are women. But the enforcement date needs to be clarified soon. Since the change is not retrospective, every delay matters to families whose babies are being born now. Passing the amendment was a welcome step. Families need certainty about when it takes effect.
And it is totally unfair to not make it retroactive. Those poor children ?
Poor excuses. The law has been passed. Implement it!
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