KUALA LUMPUR: The citizenship amendment bill should be refined and referred to a Parliamentary Special Select Committee, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said today.
Speaking in the Dewan Rakyat, Muhyiddin (PN-Pagoh) said there were several gaps in the Constitution (Amendment) Bill 2024 on the welfare of women and children.
Muhyiddin, a former prime minister and home minister, cited the stipulation that only children born in Malaysia with at least one Malaysian parent are eligible for citizenship by law, as well as the reduction of the age limit for citizenship applications from 21 to 18 years.
"With this proposed amendment, children whose parents were permanent residents at the time of birth will no longer be eligible for citizenship by law.
"I believe this amendment needs to be reconsidered. This is important because this amendment denies the existing rights of children of permanent residents born in this country to become citizens.
"This right will be taken away from them," he said, adding this was not a trivial matter.
Muhyiddin said he hoped the government would reconsider the proposed amendment on humanitarian grounds and in respect of the rights of children guaranteed by the constitution.
On amendments to the age limit for citizenship applications, Muhyiddin said this should not be changed unless the ministry could guarantee the fast-tracking of applications.
He said this was important to prevent eligible applicants from missing out on applying for citizenship.
"For this reason, when I was the home minister, I introduced specific SOPs to expedite the processing time for applications under Article 15A (of the Federal Constitution).
Muhyiddin said he supported some amendments, including the granting of citizenship by law to children born abroad to mothers who were citizens at the time of birth.
"This amendment is in line with the Perikatan Nasional Manifesto for the 15th General Election," he said.
He also supported the amendment that grants citizenship by law to children in this category for only one generation.
"In my view, this is an important control mechanism to ensure that the flexibility given to citizenship rights through this constitutional amendment is not misused.
"I believe that we, as loyal Malaysians, do not want to see a future generation of Malaysian citizens exercising their rights, including the right to vote in elections, while spending their entire lives abroad without pledging loyalty to Malaysia," he said.
Previously, Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said the proposed amendments to the citizenship law were presented to the Conference of Rulers, as well as the Sabah and Sarawak governments before it was brought to Parliament.