KUALA LUMPUR, March 27 — The Malaysian government today brought its proposed constitutional amendments on citizenship laws to the next step in Parliament via the home minister’s tabling of the Bill for second reading in the Dewan Rakyat.
But the MPs in the Dewan Rakyat did not proceed with debating the Bill, as matters related to the Bill will resume at another parliamentary meeting.
Just before Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail tabled the Bill on the government’s proposed citizenship amendments for second reading this evening, Pasir Gudang MP Hassan Abdul Karim requested for the Bill to be referred first to a parliamentary special select committee (PSSC) before it is passed.
Hassan cited the Dewan Rakyat’s Standing Orders 54(1) and 54(2) and 26(1)(j) in making this motion or application, and said he had also sent this notice this morning to Dewan Rakyat Speaker Tan Sri Johari Abdul.
The Dewan Rakyat Speaker then confirmed that he had received Hassan’s notice of his motion for the citizenship amendments to be sent to a PSSC, and said the application will be considered and decided on after the home minister tables the Bill for second reading in the Dewan Rakyat.
Under Standing Order 54(1), a Bill can be sent to a select committee before its second reading. Standing Order 54(2) enables any MP to make a motion — without notice — for a Bill to be sent to a select committee, and requires the motion to be made immediately after the Bill is read a second time. Standing Order 26(1)(j) enables a motion — under Standing Order 54 — to refer a Bill to a select committee — to be made without prior notice.
Following the brief exchange between the Pasir Gudang MP and the Dewan Rakyat Speaker, the home minister then proceeded to read the Bill — known as the Constitution (Amendment) Bill 2024 for the second time.
In concluding his reading of the Bill for the second time, Saifuddin Nasution said that the era of slow processing of citizenship applications should end.
“I repeat the government’s commitment today that the issue of citizenship has to be handled carefully. Cases of applications that are old legacies that have caused applicants to be forced to wait long, that era should pass. We should solve it bravely and responsibly.
“I hope MPs can give consideration to this matter, the balance that the government wishes to find between the issues of security, rule of law, and also the humanitarian attitude that should be given to children, especially those who had waited long for this amendment to be done,” he said when concluding his speech.
Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reform) Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said then backed the Bill for second reading.
The Dewan Rakyat Speaker then said the Bill would be open for debate, but immediately followed that by concluding the current Dewan Rakyat meeting. This means the Bill was not debated on today.
The Dewan Rakyat has three meetings scheduled this year, February 26 to March 27; June 24 to July 18; and October 7 to December 5.
The next immediate Dewan Rakyat meeting will have 15 full days scheduled for Bills and other government matters.
In an immediate response after the end of the current Dewan Rakyat meeting, the Malaysian Citizenship Rights Alliance’s (MCRA) press statement indicated that there is room to refine the proposed provisions in the Bill, as the Bill’s second reading will be continued at another meeting at the Dewan Rakyat.
“In the intervening period, we hope to engage with the government and parliamentarians on the concerns we have raised regarding several provisions of the Bill to arrive at the best solutions that will benefit, in particular the most vulnerable among us, while taking into account the concerns of the government,” MCRA said in its brief two-paragraph statement when expressing its hopes of carrying out such engagement before the Bill is debated on at another meeting.
