MUAR MP Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman has slammed Barisan Nasional’s (BN) apparent move to only resolve the issue of Malaysian mothers not being able to confer citizenship to their overseas children after the 15th General Elections (GE15).
Speaking at the Wanita BN convention in Kuala Lumpur yesterday, UMNO president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said BN will make this pledge as part of the coalition’s GE15 manifesto.
This was among resolutions presented to Zahid by Wanita BN, who had called for a constitutional amendment to provide automatic citizenship to such overseas-born children.
Taking to Twitter, Syed Saddiq said Zahid was “talking nonsense”, pointing out the issue was a dire one and BN need not wait until GE15 to push for the necessary legislative changes.
“In the next Parliament sitting, debate the constitutional amendment straight away. I will provide support,” he said yesterday (Aug 14) evening.
“We must help them now,” added the Malaysian United Democratic Alliance (MUDA) president.
Malaysian mother Esther, who failed in her bid to seek citizenship for her child for the last six years, pointed out that the “suffering and injustices” are taking place now.
“Children are now being separated from their Malaysian mothers due to their citizenship issues,” she said on Twitter. “Children are now being deprived of healthcare and education access.”
Others called for lawmakers to “do the right thing” and stop “taunting” Malaysian women with empty promises.
“Can’t extend to ‘mother’ or ‘parents’”
Earlier this month, the Court of Appeal ruled that the word “father” in the Second Schedule of Part 11 of the Federal Constitution meant the biological father and cannot be extended to include the mother or both parents.
It was referring to a contentious citizenship clause that says an overseas-born child must have a Malaysian father in order to have Malaysian citizenship.
In a two-one majority, the three-person bench also overturned the landmark decision by the Kuala Lumpur High Court in 2021 that children born overseas to Malaysian mothers and foreign fathers are automatically entitled to Malaysian citizenship.
Judge Datuk S. Nantha Balan, who dissented, argued that the present legal status of the mother’s bloodline was made to look “inferior” to the father.
He added that Article 14 of the constitution, which allows children outside the Malaysian federation to obtain citizenship, was “discriminatory” as it violated the equality provision, pointing out that such a denial of citizenship also went against international law.
The appellants of the case, a group of six Malaysian mothers and family rights group Family Frontiers, will be appealing the appellate court’s ruling at the Federal Court.
Meanwhile, Wanita BN also urged BN to establish a 30% quota of election seats for women, a women-only university and a bank for women.
These recommendations were handed over to Zahid for BN’s top leadership to mull over before submitting them to the Government for their perusal. – Aug 15, 2022
Main pic credit: Suriani Kempe
