However, the cabinet would have to approve it first, said Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Azalina Othman Said.
“We got a lot of laws to look into for the Dewan Rakyat sitting next month, so I think we will see which laws go to the cabinet and gets approved.
“There are many laws, so we hope for the best,” she said at the signing ceremony between the Malaysian government and Asian-African legal consultative organisation here today.
When asked if the amendment would be included in the March sitting, Azalina said she did not know.
The original bill with clause 88A was withdrawn on Aug 7, 2017 by Azalina with the reason that it was due to four court decisions which were in conflict with it.
“The Federal Court judgment is quite clear, so people should be pleased,” Azalina said.
She was referring to the Jan 29 Federal Court judgment that set aside the unilateral conversion of M Indira Gandhi’s three children to Islam after ruling that any conversion of non-Muslim children must get the consent of both parents.
In what has been described as a landmark ruling, the court also decreed that only the civil court could decide on such matters.
It also ruled that the word “parent” in Article 12(4) of the Federal Constitution should be read as “parents”.
That article says that the religion of a person under the age of 18 shall be decided by his parent or guardian.
The court’s ruling put an end to the interfaith custody battle that followed after Indira’s ex-husband Muhammad Riduan Abdullah converted her three children without her knowledge in 2009.
Police are now looking for Riduan to surrender the youngest child that he took away from the mother. His present whereabouts are not known.
Azalina: Respect apex court’s decision on unilateral conversion
Court rules in Indira’s favour, sets aside conversion of children