M. Kulasegaran. -Bernama filepic
KUALA LUMPUR: The constitutional amendment bill on citizenship laws has been postponed to the next meeting of the Dewan Rakyat which convenes in October.
Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reform) M. Kulasegaran told the House that the second and the third reading of the citizenship bill, along with three other bills have been postponed to the next meeting which begins on Oct 14.
The other three bills that were postponed are the Mufti (Federal Territories) Bill 2024, Administration of Islamic Law (Federal Territories) Act 1993 (Amendment) and Syariah Court Civil Procedure (Federal Territories) Act 1998 (Amendment) bills.
Although the citizenship bill was on the Dewan Rakyat’s order paper throughout the 15 day-meeting which ends today (July 18), it was never brought for the second reading.
The bill to amend the Federal Constitution was supposed to be tabled for the second reading by Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail on March 27, which was the last day of the previous meeting.
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However after Saifuddin delivered his speech, Dewan Rakyat Speaker Tan Sri Johari Abdul then delivered his closing speech and adjourned the meeting without putting the bill for debate.
The bill was tabled for the first reading on March 25.
An amendment to the Federal Constitution will require two-thirds’ support in the Dewan Rakyat. This means that 148 MPs would have to vote in favour of the Bill.
There have also been calls for the bill to be referred to the Parliamentary Special Select Committee for further fine-tuning.
