The amendment Bill to the Federal Constitution on citizenship laws should be reviewed by the Parliamentary Special Select Committee (PSSC) following objection by the Opposition, says Datuk Seri Takiyuddin Hassan.
At a press conference in Parliament on Monday (March 25), the Perikatan Nasional chief whip said the opposition disagreed with the government’s decision to drop two proposed amendments to the citizenship law, adding that the matter will be discussed at length during debates in the coming days.
Read more at https://tinyurl.com/yufju6mt
WATCH MORE: https://thestartv.com/c/news
SUBSCRIBE: https://cutt.ly/TheStar
LIKE: https://fb.com/TheStarOnline
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00 I would like to draw the first attention of the media to the article 159 of the Constitution.
00:14 The title is "Change of Constitution".
00:18 Article 159, article 5.
00:24 Article 5 states, "Any law that makes a change to article 4, article 10, or any law passed,
00:39 including article 3, cannot be passed without the consent of the Council of Rulers."
00:59 We have made several questions and requests for clarification from the Minister himself, including today.
01:11 He has stated that the current amendment to the Constitution is called the Blue Bill.
01:22 The Blue Bill is the Constitution that will be discussed.
01:26 According to the Minister, he said that the last amendment to the Bill was made to the Supreme Council
01:42 when the Prime Minister was addressing the Supreme Council before the Cabinet was formed.
01:49 That is a common practice.
01:51 We believe that the original amendment to article 159 is clear and expressly stated.
02:04 It must be approved by the Council of Rulers.
02:08 For us, the Council of Rulers is a council of nine people, including the Prime Minister.
02:16 The Prime Minister is the only entity, not a council of kings.
02:21 The question is, does the government fulfil the amendment to article 159 to get consent?
02:31 He said, "The consent of the Conference of Rulers."
02:37 Consent, not just a reference.
02:42 The issue is, does the government get consent?
02:46 That is a big issue.
02:48 The second issue is, when we receive a statement,
02:52 which is a long statement, taking more than two hours,
02:56 with the explanation from the ministries, including the Ministry of State Inquiry,
03:05 and the KSU, we find that what has been given to us,
03:12 big and important things, have not been included in the bill.
03:23 This is what I raised in the council.
03:26 After the minister presented the reading for the first time,
03:30 before we were supported, we raised it.
03:32 We asked for an explanation.
03:35 Why is this draft or bill different from the statement given to us?
03:42 As a government that wants to reform institutions, including parliament,
03:49 it should be managed.
03:51 That is one of the important things.
03:53 So in the management, other things are given,
03:56 which reach others.
03:58 We order others, get others.
04:01 That is the current situation.
04:03 One of the big issues that is not included in this bill is,
04:11 what is it, related to the...
04:17 The child.
04:19 The child.
04:20 The child.
04:21 The child.
04:22 The child.
04:23 The foundling baby.
04:25 It is not included.
04:26 The statement has been given that the foundling babies are affected,
04:31 who do not know their origins and so on.
04:34 At this time, it is automatically a citizen,
04:40 when it is confirmed to be born in one place in the congregation,
04:46 and the wife is a resident in that area,
04:52 it automatically becomes a citizen.
04:56 What was suggested before this,
04:58 we also have a procedure after the move,
05:01 what was suggested was,
05:03 there is an institution term, KKU,
05:06 Kuat Kuasa Undang-Undang,
05:08 Force of Law.
05:10 Another one, By Registration.
05:12 Force of Law means automatically.
05:16 When it is born in that state, it automatically becomes a citizen.
05:21 What was suggested by the previous government in the statement to us,
05:25 it cannot be done automatically,
05:28 it must be done through registration.
05:31 By registration.
05:33 By registration means there must be a request,
05:38 there is a survey,
05:40 there are supporting reports,
05:44 supporting documents, and so on.
05:46 Including, we explained, documents that need,
05:51 birth certificate, birth certificate, police report, protection report, JKM,
05:56 newspaper coverage of children who are found, if there is.
06:01 So much so, the survey or the survey,
06:06 is a request for someone who is found,
06:10 a child who is found, to be verified as a citizen.
06:13 Suddenly, this request is not included in the law.
06:20 That is Article 15A2.
06:25 Article 15A2.
06:27 So, that is what we consider as something that should not happen.
06:37 And, what is this,
06:41 now there is Article 15A.
06:43 There is no 1 or 2, only 1 clause.
06:46 Article 15A,
06:48 it is suggested here to include a new amendment to Article 15A2.
06:53 That is the thing I mentioned earlier.
06:56 So, we have held a meeting with the Minister for a while,
07:00 with the Chief of the Opposition,
07:03 and he gave us a statement that we cannot accept
07:09 as a justifiable reason,
07:12 that has justification,
07:14 including consent from the Council of Ministers,
07:19 and also why it is not included,
07:23 the amendment that was suggested.
07:25 When he said, what was proposed was a suggestion,
07:29 he said, this is the final one.
07:31 That is what he called,
07:33 you shift the goalpost.
07:36 He changed the goalpost.
07:39 That cannot be accepted.
07:41 This is what was proposed.
07:43 If he really wants to,
07:44 he should just go back to us.
07:46 Why did he not include Article 15A2 in the law?
07:52 One of the suggestions,
07:54 the usual practice in parliament,
07:56 when each bill has a factual argument from the opposition,
08:03 or sometimes from the government itself,
08:06 for example, during the National Union,
08:09 the GEG Bill,
08:13 brought by the Minister of Health,
08:16 was rejected not only by the opposition,
08:20 but also by the government,
08:21 and was referred to the Special Select Committee.
08:24 The Special Select Committee of the parliament.
08:28 So in this case, we agree,
08:30 if it is referred back.
08:32 That was also a suggestion given by the Deputy Speaker
08:35 to the Minister of Home Affairs,
08:36 just a moment ago.
08:37 Why not you hold on,
08:39 we give ample time to everyone,
08:43 to all the stakeholders,
08:45 including NGO,
08:46 to come up with their proposal or their suggestion,
08:52 and then we can make a complete amendment to the constitution.
08:57 Before he made the briefing to us,
09:01 definitely he got the blessing and green light from the cabinet.
09:07 And why now,
09:09 he changed the proposal for this amendment?
09:13 For us, that is also a pressure.
09:16 Could be a pressure from the cabinet itself,
09:18 or certain quarters in the cabinet,
09:21 in the government itself.
09:24 We don't want to mention who,
09:26 but we presume he received a pressure from certain quarters,
09:32 either in the government or in the cabinet itself.
09:36 That is our presumption.
09:38 Thank you.
09:40 Thank you.
09:42 Thank you.
09:44 Thank you.
09:45 [BLANK_AUDIO]