The Constitution (Amendment) Bill 2024, which will next be brought to the Dewan Negara, aims to grant citizenship to overseas-born children of Malaysian women.
Law and institutional reform minister Azalina Othman Said said the passing of the long-awaited bill represented a victory for all Malaysian mothers.
She also hailed the government and opposition blocs for backing the proposed amendments after it was supported by 206 MPs and only opposed by one, exceeding the two-thirds majority of 148 MPs needed to amend the Federal Constitution.
“Thank you to those who have been consistently championing this issue. Congratulations to the Madani government and Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, and thank you MPs,” she said in a post on X.
Jelutong MP RSN Rayer also hailed the approved amendments, saying this meant that more stateless individuals would be eligible to become Malaysian citizens.
The DAP MP said it was another step in the right direction for the Anwar-led unity government.
“It’s a historic day. Kudos to the prime minister and the unity government for their political will,” he said in a Facebook post.
Separately, Bayan Baru MP Sim Tze Tzin applauded the various parties who had a role to play in the process of the amendments being approved, from the Conference of Rulers, Sabah and Sarawak governments, political parties, and NGOs.
Sim admitted that the government faced many hurdles before the bill could be tabled, especially after a previous version of the bill was strongly opposed by civil society groups in March.
The PKR man paid tribute to Anwar and home minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail for not giving up on the amendments, pressing ahead and making changes to the bill while engaging stakeholders.
“Thanks to their hard work, extraordinary political persuasion skills and almost-divine patience, the unity government has created history.
“Congratulations! The honour belongs to these two men!”
The bill was passed after the second and third readings in the Dewan Rakyat today. It was supported by 206 MPs while Muar MP Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman was the only one who voted against it. Fourteen MPs were absent while one was suspended.
However, the proposed amendments faced criticism from various groups, particularly those from Sabah and Sarawak.
They said a proposal to remove automatic citizenship for children born to Malaysian permanent residents would worsen matters for stateless people in Sabah, and hinder their access to education, health services and employment.