KUALA LUMPUR – Putrajaya has lost its bid to strike out an application to challenge provisions in the federal constitution linked to citizenship.
The application by seven plaintiffs, which includes Family Frontiers president Suriani Kempe, challenges Articles 14(1)(b) and 1(c) of the federal constitution, saying it contradicts Article 8, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of gender.
Articles 14(1)(b) and 1(c) state that Malaysian women are not allowed to confer citizenship on their overseas-born children by operation of law.
High court judge Datuk Akhtar Tahir agreed that the provision is discriminatory, and there is no apparent justification in allowing the discrimination.
Thus, the application by the plaintiffs could not have been “frivolous”, as argued by the government.
Akhtar then directed the defendant's lawyer, Mazlifah Ayob, to file an affidavit containing their justification for discrimination. Representing the plaintiffs today was lead counsel Datuk Gurdial Singh Nijar.
In a press conference outside the court, Suriani said the decision is a win for Malaysian mothers, and her organisation is happy that the court allowed the merits of the case to be heard.
Also present was Kulai MP Teo Nie Ching and Segambut MP Hannah Yeoh, who took the opportunity to raise issues faced by families with foreign mothers.
“In these cases, the parents, usually a Malaysian father and foreign mother, would be unmarried. The father could work in Singapore, and because of the MCO, he can't be present to register the child in school.
“The government cannot punish these children like this just because of the MCO, and they must handle this matter humanely,” said Teo. – The Vibes, May 6, 2021
