PM: I’m against it
KUALA LUMPUR: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak has pledged to amend the Federal Constitution with regard t o unilateral conversions should Barisan Nasional (BN) regain two-thirds majority in the 14th general election.
In stating that he is against forced conversion, Najib said a two-thirds majority is required by the BN coalition to amend Article 12 of the Constitution on the issue involving children’s religion.
“I do not support forced conversions as Islam does not approve of it. However, the government had to withdraw Clause 88A of the Bill (Law Reform (Marriage and Divorce) (Amendment) Bill 2017) because Article 12 could be challenged in court.
“Give us a strong government that will be fair to all Malaysians. We will amend the Constitution,” he said during his speech at the 71st MIC General Assembly at Putra
World Trade Centre yesterday.
MIC president Datuk Seri Dr S. Subramaniam urged Najib to address the matter involving unilateral conversions as it remains a major issue among the Indian community.
“When the government tabled amendments to the Law Reform (Marriage and Divorce) Act 2017, we made some progress in the area of marriages.
“The problem of unilateral conversion of children has yet to be resolved. As such, MIC is committed to finding a solution to the problem, that we have repeatedly raised at many forums.
“We request political support and a political decision to consider the previous Cabinet decision in 2009, where it was decided that a child will remain in the religion of birth until the age of 18,” Subramaniam said in his speech.
However, despite passing the Law Reform (Marriage and Divorce) (Amendment) Bill 2017 at the Dewan Rakyat last month, Clause 88A of the bill, which states that the religion of the child “shall remain as the religion of the parties to the marriage prior to the conversion”, was dropped.
It was later reported that Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said said the clause was removed from the bill so that it would be in line with the Constitution and the decisions of the Federal Court and Court of Appeal.
On another matter, Najib called on MIC to produce worthy, credible and winnable candidates for the upcoming general election.
While commending the BN component party for completing its reforms and being in a better position than previously, Najib said candidates must be able to appeal to other races as well in order to earn their candidacy.
“The reality is that there are no seats in the country where the Indian community represents the majority, despite making up 7% of the population.
“For example, the Teluk Kemang seat in Negri Sembilan has an army camp. Therefore, the candidate has to be appealing to the servicemen there in order to win,” he said, adding that if MIC wants to win, the party would also have to depend on other races and cannot just rely on the support of party members.