Najib Razak’s veiled intimidation to women voters in the country that he will amend Section 88A of the Law Reform Act (Marriage and Divorces) to ban unilateral conversion if he gains two-thirds BN majority in Parliament has sealed his title as the Father of U-Turns in this latest farce to gain support come the 14th General Election.
How shameful that a Prime Minister has to stoop so low to instigate voters that because he does not have two-thirds majority in the Dewan Rakyat to amend the Federal Constitution to push for the ban on unilateral conversions, therefore it could not be done. What Najib Razak clearly lacks is the political will to do what is right, even though Barisan Nasional does not command 2/3 majority in the Dewan Rakyat after the 2008 elections.
Does he think that Malaysians, especially women still believe the hollow, empty, insincere promises made by the Prime Minister and his cabinet since 2009 after he took office to steer this nation to greatness? The bitter reality is that Najib Razak as the 6th Prime Minister has lost but the confidence of the majority of Malaysians after his infamous reversal to abolish the 1948 Sedition Act after making a chest-thumping statement that he would.
In the case of the limitation on unilateral conversions, numerous oral and written questions had been raised in the Dewan Rakyat for years on end by the many elected representatives, more from Opposition MPs than from the government. In March 2016, I had asked the Prime Minister in my oral question, when would the Government stop unilateral conversions for underaged children and to what extent is the initiative by the Attorney General to ensure that the said amendments to the Law Reform Act (Marriage and Divorces) is followed through. Minister in the PM’s Department Nancy Shukri replied saying that she will also be answering questions by 11 other MPs, 10 from the Opposition (Ipoh Barat, Kota Raja, Ipoh Timor, Subang, Alor Setar, Taiping, Selayang, Sungai Siput, Temerloh, Kota Bharu) and one from BN (Alor Gajah) related to banning unilateral conversions along with mine. In her answer, she cited a ‘Federal Court decision in the case of “Viran a/l Nagapan v Deepa a/l Subramaniam which reads “The civil court continues to have jurisdiction in respect of divorce as well as custody of the children despite the conversion of one party to Islam” and therefore there is no need to amend Article 121 (1A) of the Federal Constitution’. I had reminded her on the Cabinet decision in 2009 to amend laws to prohibit unilateral conversions and that after 7 long years, nothing has happened yet. While some Cabinet decisions had been executed speedily, some like the ban on the unilateral conversion is entering its 8th year awaiting amendment.
This clearly shows that Najib and his cabinet decided, in principle that there is no need for a constitutional amendment and only an amendment to the existing Act is sufficient to safeguard the rights of mothers and fathers who have been excluded in the controversy of the child’s conversion.
In January last year, Najib Razak agreed in principle to consider amending the law to prevent children from being converted to another religion without the consent of both parents and that a ministerial committee was formed to study this issue of unilateral conversions. The committee comprised of Datuk Seri Dr S. Subramaniam, former de facto law minister Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz, his successor Nancy Shukri, and Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Jamil Khir Baharom. This is the third committee that has been set up to look into the argument on unilateral conversions since 2009.
In other words, Cabinet decisions and a ministerial committee set up to ban unilateral conversions had been mere gallantry to mislead the public and particularly in the cases of S. Deepa and M. Indira Gandhi that justice would be served and that the Government would make a decision in the best interest of the child. But what has happened is that Prime Minister Najib Razak and his henchmen chose to pull out Section 88A of the LRA from the recent amendment in Parliament to leave a mother lying in the lurch with no end to her child custody nightmare and dark horrid days for other fathers and mothers who are in the same predicament.
As the 1Malaysia Prime Minister for all, Datuk Seri Najib Razak has failed to ensure that the best interest of the child is given cardinal importance in the matter of unilateral conversions. He must remember that Malaysia has ratified the Convention of Child Rights (CRC) and must safeguard the rights of mothers who have been excluded in issues of conversion of their child.
Instead of doing what is right, Prime Minister Najib Razak rides on his wave of arrogance and oblivion and has intimidated women voters into believing that with 2/3 BN majority in Parliament, reforms that protect the sanctity of the family institution, the rights of the mothers and conversion issues of their children will be upheld and executed, democratically. I concur with all my colleagues, DAP Wanita National Chairperson Chong Eng, Kulai MP Teo Nie Ching, Wanita Harapan Chief Zuraida Kamaruddin, and Ipoh Barat MP M. Kulasegaran who has been diligently pursuing this matter for years now that with the mandate of Pakatan Harapan, unilateral conversions will be a thing of the past.
After 8 years of being Prime Minister, Najib can add this ‘achievement’ to his long list of accolades – veiled intimidations to women voters in the country for a two-thirds Barisan Nasional majority to do the right thing in the Dewan Rakyat.
Prime Minister Najib Razak clearly lacks the political will nor the courage for true reforms like banning unilateral conversions, and especially in doing what is right without fear or favour.