MACHANG: The government is confident that the proposed amendment to the Federal Constitution to allow children born abroad to Malaysian mothers to obtain the nation's citizenship will be well received and have a major impact.
Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said this was because many entreaties had been made concerning citizenship matters.
"Yesterday the cabinet made a policy decision for the government to amend a clause (in the Federal Constitution) to allow applications or citizenship issues to be determined through a minor amendment to the definition (of the clause).
"Through the amendment, the original rights that belonged to the father will be amended to (now include) either the father or the mother. Therefore, mothers and fathers have the same rights as before.
"I am confident that this amendment, will have a major impact on components within the Home Ministry. There are applications in this category," he said.
He said this at a press conference after inaugurating the ministry's Madani Programme at the Machang Unity Complex, here, today.
On Friday the Cabinet agreed to amend the Federal Constitution, allowing children born to Malaysian mothers abroad to obtain Malaysian citizenship automatically.
The proposed amendment is expected to be tabled during the current session of the Dewan Rakyat, after completing all legal procedures.
Currently, the Federal Constitution only recognises citizenship through fathers, which means that children born to Malaysian mothers outside of the country cannot obtain Malaysian citizenship automatically.
According to a joint statement dated Feb 17 by Saifuddin and Prime Minister's Department (Law and Institutional Reform) Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said, the proposed revision to the Federal Constitution seeks to replace the phrase "whose father" in Part I and Part II of the Second Schedule with the phrase "at least one of the parents."