SHAH ALAM, Feb 12 ― Following calls by the Opposition bloc to revoke former DAP Pujut assemblyman Dr Ting Tiong Choon's citizenship, PKR president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has raised a different view.
Anwar has instead urged those who made the call to accept Dr Ting's choice.
“He has to choose one, and he chose Malaysia. So we accept Malaysia lah,” he told reporters after officiating the Regional Conference on Peaceful Coexistence held at the Grand Bluewave Hotel here.
It was reported yesterday that Sarawak PAS and Parti Bumiputera Perkasa Malaysia (Putra) had called for the government to revoke Dr Ting's Malaysian citizenship.
The calls came after the court's decision yesterday morning to disqualify Dr Ting as an assemblyman due to his dual citizenship in Malaysia and Australia.
According to Sarawak PAS commissioner Jofri Jaraiee and Putra vice-president Mohd Khairul Azam Abdul Aziz, Dr Ting should have his Malaysian citizenship revoked under Article 24(1) of the Federal Constitution.
Article 24(1) states that the government may by order deprive that person of his citizenship if it is satisfied that the citizen has acquired the citizenship of another country.
On May 12, 2017, Dr Ting was disqualified by the Sarawak state assembly based on the fact that he has had dual citizenship, although he had later renounced his Australian citizenship just before the 2016 Sarawak state election.
News reports say that Dr Ting has acquired Australian citizenship in 2010.
The Sarawak state assembly had viewed Dr Ting as violating Article 17(1) of the state constitution which states that a person is disqualified if he had voluntarily obtained or exercised the right of citizenship in any other country.
