PETALING JAYA: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has expressed confidence that the Dewan Rakyat will pass the amendment proposal to the Federal Constitution pertaining to citizenship, which is slated to be tabled this month.
Anwar said that the proposed amendment was not just a necessity but also in line with the principles enshrined in the Federal Constitution.
He said while Article 8(2) explicitly prohibited discrimination based on race, religion, or gender, its implementation had been somewhat inconsistent.
"The definition outlined in Article 14(1)(b)(c) of the Federal Constitution, which currently recognises only fathers as parents, has been a longstanding issue that we have been grappling with for decades.
"I am particularly pleased that this issue, which has been on the table for decades, has garnered attention under the leadership of Datuk Seri Nancy. With cabinet approval secured, the proposal is set to be presented to parliament this month.
"I firmly believe that this amendment will receive strong support from members of parliaments. Those who are unable to embrace this change are, in my opinion, unfit to hold parliamentary positions," he said during the International Women's Day celebration at the Sunway Convention Centre.
Previously, Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail announced that the Cabinet had given the green light for the proposal over the Federal Constitution amendment involving citizenship to be tabled in Dewan Rakyat.
Saifuddin said the ministry would also submit a request to the Dewan Rakyat's secretary for the amendment to be included in the House proceedings, this year.
The amendment amends subsection (b) of article 14 to include the term "mother" in order to facilitate the legal acquisition of the child's citizenship.
Last February, the government announced that the cabinet had agreed to amend the Federal Constitution to allow Malaysian mothers married to foreigners to be able to obtain automatic citizenship for their children born abroad.
This involves the amendment of Section 1(1)(d) and Section 1(1)(e) of Part I in the Second Schedule, and Section 1(b) and Section 1(c) in Part II of the same schedule.
However, Saifuddin in June last year, announced that the proposed amendments to Part III of the Federal Constitution would be presented to the Conference of Rulers in July and that the government was in the process of finalising the proposed amendments comprehensively.
Some of the key proposed amendments include entirely removing sections 1(e) and 2(3) of the Second Schedule, Part II of the FC; removing the right of foundlings, including abandoned children to citizenship by operation of law under Section 19B of the Second Schedule in Part III of the constitution; and removing the words "permanently resident" in Section 1(a) of the Second Schedule in Part II of the constitution.