MCA spokesman Chan Quin Er said the Dewan Rakyat should consider amending the constitution so that overseas-born children could obtain citizenship from “either parent” or “either mother or father” or “both mother and father”.

She called for bipartisan support for such constitutional amendments so that Malaysian women would have equal rights with men in passing on citizenship to their children.

DAP secretary-general Loke Siew Fook urged Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob to table an amendment bill at the next parliamentary session.

“Forty-two DAP MPs will back this amendment and I am also confident that our friends in Pakatan Harapan will, too,” he said.

The statements from the MCA and DAP leaders came in the wake of an appeal court ruling today upholding the current law that children derive citizenship from their Malaysian fathers.

The court overturned a High Court ruling in September in which judge Akhtar Tahir had held that mothers were entitled to confer citizenship by operation of law in all processes, just like fathers. He said the word “father” in the Second Schedule of the Federal Constitution must mean and include mothers.

However, the Court of Appeal ruled by a 2-1 majority today that the word “father” is “clear and unambiguous” and could not be construed to include “mother”. It held that children born overseas to Malaysian mothers can be denied citizenship.

Chan and Loke both described the decision as an injustice to Malaysian women, violating the principle of gender equality enshrined in the constitution.

The constitution should be amended to remove all doubt and end any further discriminatory practices against Malaysian mothers, Chan said in a statement.

Today’s court decision came in an appeal by the government, the home minister and the director-general of the national registration department against the High Court ruling in September.