Enacted by Parliament – with consultation please!

WITH the Dewan Rakyat back in session, many citizens are again concerned about the impact of potential new laws that our elected representatives will have to vote on.

Back in March, I expressed concerns about constitutional amendments affecting the citizenship status of children born in Malaysia. In particular, I condemned the proposal to abolish a constitutional right afforded to foundlings – infants who have been abandoned by their parents – who are automatically given citizenship by operation of law.

I am relieved that this proposal has been dropped, after the matter was deliberated by the Conference of Rulers and consultations were had with Suhakam, the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia. Foundlings will continue to become citizens by operation of law.

However, Suhakam and civil society organisations continue to be concerned by other aspects of the bill.

As per its media statement on October 15, Suhakam maintains its “dissent to the proposed amendment on the removal of the automatic citizenship to children of permanent residents. Moreover, Suhakam strongly urges on the application of retrospective effect for children born overseas of Malaysian mothers and non-Malaysian fathers”.

A more strongly worded statement, augmented by cases raised by MPs in parliament about children in their constituencies, was issued on October 17 by the Malaysian Citizenship Rights Alliance, hoping that the bill be decoupled and for the regressive provisions to be sent to the Parliamentary Special Select Committee (PSSC).

The Seed Community for a Professional Parliament has also asked for this bill, as well as the Federal Territories Mufti Bill, to be referred to the PSSC for further scrutiny. The latter bill has been criticised from multiple angles as well, from apparently giving the mufti huge unchecked powers, to defining what it means to be a Sunni Muslim along narrow sectarian lines.

I am grateful that both the Minister for Home Affairs and the Minister for Religious Affairs took the time to explain their positions to me when I happened to be in parliament for a separate meeting with the Speaker of the Dewan Rakyat on Tuesday. Certainly, when two sides disagree strongly about something, emotions can lead to language seen as confrontational and exaggerative.

I did my best to convey the strength of feeling from my activist friends, and in turn listened to the ministers’ explanations. While not all concerns can be immediately allayed, a willingness to engage and share information, as well as better communication, can go a long way in building understanding, if not consensus. So I too hope that there will be more inclusive deliberation before Bills become Acts.

As you read this, the focus in parliament will likely already have shifted to the budget, with wish lists from various parties demanding more predictable and sustainable positions on tax, subsidy rationalisation, the costs of doing business, investment policies and of course grants for various sectors and communities.

I am proud that the organisations I am involved with are able to play a meaningful role in the discourse around these policies. It is indeed a sign of a maturing democracy that stakeholders across society are able to coalesce and speak up to make our country better. It was not always the case.

In fact, not too long ago, it would have been inconceivable for so many stakeholders to be able to speak up so confidently across so many platforms. That this has become possible is itself the result of institutional reforms brought about by consistent pressure from civil society, alongside the new reality of political competition and the emergence of social media.

That is why I was excited to learn, in my meeting with the Speaker of the Dewan Rakyat, that there will be a renewed effort towards civic education involving parliament itself. Readers of my articles and speeches over the years will know that I regard it as vital to the sustainability of our democracy that young generations of Malaysians receive a thorough grounding in our Federal Constitution, the institutions of our country, the history of their formation, and the values upon which they are based.

Outside the Dewan Rakyat chamber, in the hallway adorned with portraits of past Yang di-Pertuan Agong, the parliamentary library has exhibited a few books. Their latest publication is a collection of royal addresses to parliament, including, for the first time in print (other than in Hansard), that of the first Yang di-Pertuan Agong addressing the first ever session of Parliament in 1959.

“Conduct your affairs in such a way that Parliament will be a shining beacon of democracy at its brightest and best,” His Majesty beseeched. Especially in making decisions that will affect Malaysians for generations, I repeat our first monarch’s call.

* Tunku Zain Al-‘Abidin is Founding President of IDEAS and Trustee of Yayasan Chow Kit.