DAP castigates the government’s stubborn decision to proceed with its appeal against the recent High Court decision allowing Malaysian women to confer citizenship to their children on an equal basis with men. There is no reason why children born to Malaysian parents abroad should be discriminated against and not accorded the right to citizenship in this country.
The High Court had rightly decided that to bar Malaysian mothers with overseas-born children to confer automatic Malaysian citizenship to their children, is wrong. This is also unconstitutional gender discrimination contrary to basic human rights as outlined in the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
To allow fathers but not mothers when she gives birth to the child, to confer automatic Malaysian citizenship makes a mockery of the Malaysian Family concept of Prime Minister Ismail Sabri. If the Attorney General refuses to withdraw the appeal against the High Court decision then the Prime Minister should state his stand clearly and unequivocally to the Attorney-General to show that he is different from past Prime Ministers.
PH Must Explain The Benefits To The Rakyat From The MOU And Acceptance Of PH Proposals By The Government.
The success or failure of the Memorandum of Understanding(MOU) for Transformation and Stability between the Prime Minister and four top Pakatan Harapan Leaders in Parliament House on 13 September 2021 will depend on whether it can be fully implemented as promised according to the timelines set.
Despite these challenges, the rakyat will directly benefit from the implementation of the MOU particularly a National COVID-19 Reset Plan to win the battle against COVID-19, and the RM45 Economic Turnaround Plan accompanied by a waiver of interest payments for three months during the bank loan moratorium for the poorest 50% of the Malaysian population. The recent announcements by Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz implementing these measures are the first fruits of success for the people benefiting from this MOU.
The Finance Ministry’s proposals to raise both the Covid-19 Fund by RM45 billion from RM65 billion to RM110 billion, and increase the statutory national debt limit from 60 % to 65% of the GDP will help to support the people and businesses, particularly SMEs, during the reopening of the economy. PH leaders will need to explain to the people that these benefits are a key part of the MOU from PH to save lives and livelihood, which were previously rejected by the government but now accepted as part of government policy.