Rafizi to make police report over PAS' claim that 54,000 Chinese nationals receiving citizenship

PETALING JAYA: Economy Minister Rafizi Ramli says he will be filing a police report against a social media post made by PAS claiming that 54,000 Chinese nationals are in the process of being given Malaysian citizenship.

"I will be speaking with Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail so that we can file a police report against this post because it is clearly criminal defamation and a lie to say that these Chinese nationals are in the process of receiving citizenship.

"PAS has to take responsibility for spewing out lies like this," he said in a Twitter post on Monday (Aug 28).

In the PAS social media post, it quoted Bersatu information chief Datuk Razali Idris who said that the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) should investigate Saifuddin and The National Registration Department (NRD) for allegedly giving citizenship to 54,000 Chinese nationals.

"54,000 is too high a number and the public wants this issue to be dealt with quickly and smartly.

"Our national sovereignty has to be protected together with our special rights as Malaysian citizens!" he said earlier on Monday (Aug 28).

On Aug 18, the NRD denied the allegation, claiming that Saifuddin's statement on Jan 9 had been manipulated.

It said that 54,000 applications for citizenship were received between 2017 and 2022, and the applications were made in accordance with the provisions in the Federal Constitution and involved applicants from diverse backgrounds and countries of origin.

It also said only 45 individuals from China were granted Malaysian citizenship based on NRD's record for 2019 until July 31 this year.