THE Madani government should emulate the example of the Keluarga Malaysia government in inclusive lawmaking. The proposed constitutional amendment concerning citizenship, which was deferred to the next parliamentary sitting, should go back to the drawing board with three options: (a) a green paper to enable an open-ended deliberation, (b) a white paper to back up the government’s proposal with facts and figures, or (c) a parliamentary special select committee (PSSC) to further study the matter.
Two years ago, on April 11, the constitutional bill to introduce the anti-hopping law was withdrawn from parliamentary voting and instead referred to a PSSC to study it, of which Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail was a member.
While the anti-hopping law is not perfect, it avoids the unintended consequences of undermining Article 10 of the Federal Constitution, especially on freedom of association.
Likewise, the Control of Tobacco Product and Smoking Bill 2022 (popularly known as the generational endgame bill) to end tobacco consumption for the younger generation was referred to a PSSC by the then health minister Khairy Jamaluddin.
This resulted in a better bill with cross-party consensus, though it was unfortunately watered down in 2023 under a new minister.
The ongoing debate between Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh and NGOs underlines the persisting disagreement on the bill.
Instead of bulldozing the bill in the next parliamentary sitting, which starts on June 24, the government should take its time to prepare a green paper to enable an open-ended deliberation.
Alternatively, the government should table a white paper or any policy paper which covers facts and figures on citizenship matters; government programmes, policy consideration and the impact assessment on the amendment; together with all consequential amendments necessary to the existing act, rules and regulations.
Alternatively, the bill should be referred to a PSSC, as commendably moved by YB Hassan Abdul Karim, MP for Pasir Gudang, during the debate. While the motion was not considered and agreed upon by the House before it adjourned, it enjoyed support of MPs from various parties.
Projek Sama calls upon the chairs of three PSSCs, YB Jonathan Yasin (security), YB William Leong Jee Keen (human rights, election and institutional reform) and YB Yeo Bee Yin (women, children and community development) to initiate an inquiry on this bill, with or without the minister’s reference, and publicly invite submissions from stakeholders and experts.
The terms of references of these PSSCs allow them to examine any relevant bill under the responsibility of the Home Ministry or have consequences on the Federal Constitution, human rights and social welfare. If referred to a PSSC, all stakeholders can be called to present their submissions, and the public can be kept maximally informed.
We commend Home Minister Saifuddin’s decision not to rush the passing of the bill on the last day of the March sitting, as he understood that the MPs needed more room to debate. This reduces the “serious trust deficit” against the government that the home minister incisively recognized in a podcast programme.
We call upon the minister to present to the cabinet to seize the window of opportunity with the deferral of the bill to present a green paper, a white paper or referring the bill to a PSSC, demonstrating the Madani government’s respect to the Federal Constitution and its commitment to inclusive and serious formulations of laws and policies. – April 11, 2024
Projek Sama stands for Project – Stability and Accountability for Malaysia and is an initiative to advocate for institutional reforms for the sake of political stability and accountability