THE Dewan Rakyat has passed amendments to the Federal Constitution that exempt Rulers and their families as well as heads of states from automatic voter registration.
The Constitution (Amendment) Bill 2022 was passed after the government succeeded in obtaining two-thirds majority support from MPs to amend the Federal Constitution.
In the first bloc vote at the end of the second reading, Speaker Tan Sri Azhar Azizan Harun announced that 181 MPs had voted in favour of the amendments.
“No MPs present abstained from voting, and all 220 MPs had voted,” he said, adding that 39 MPs were absent.
A second bloc vote was called by Deputy Speaker Datuk Ramli Mohd Nor in line with procedural rules as the amendment required two-thirds majority support from MPs.
Ramli informed MPs that he was doing so in line with the House rules as a constitutional amendment required two-thirds majority support in the House before it could be passed.
He later announced that 178 MPs voted in favour of the amendment while 42 were absent.
Ramli, who abstained from voting, announced that the Bill would be read for the third time. It was finally passed amidst thumps of approval from the floor.
The amendments to the Federal Constitution were to exempt the Rulers and their family members from automatic registration as voters.
The amendment also stated that automatic registration of voters under Undi18 was enforced on Dec 15 last year.
The Bill was tabled by Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Parliament and Law) Datuk Seri Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar for the second reading yesterday.
He said the amendment of Article 119 had raised questions about the need to exempt Rulers and their family members as well as the Yang di-Pertua Negeri and spouses from being automatically registered as voters so that they remain neutral and above politics.
Article 119 was amended in 2019 to lower the voting age from 21 to 18 and implement automatic voter registration for those who have reached the age of 18 without exemption.
“This automatic registration also includes the Rulers and spouses, heirs and spouses as well as the Yang di-Pertua Negeri and spouses.
“So for the purposes of exempting them, an amendment to the Federal Constitution needed to be made, and this matter had been notified to Cabinet on Nov 12, 2021,” said Wan Junaidi.
During the debates, Datuk Mahfuz Omar (PH-Pokok Sena) said that members of the royal households could be given the option to join politics.
Ramkarpal Singh (PH-Bukit Gelugor) said he supported the amendments but questioned whether this would take away the royalty’s right to vote.
“This is an aspect that we need to think about – whether we are taking away their right to vote because this is the constitutional right given to every citizen.
“I’m worried that this may give rise to an issue that is not intended, where the royalty would want to enforce their right to vote. Perhaps, this should be taken into consideration,” he said.
Wan Junaidi said the question of denying the royalty the right to vote did not arise, as despite the amendments, the Rulers and the royal family members still had the right to decide if they wanted to register as voters.
“It is up to the Rulers and family members if they want to exercise the right to vote.
“That is their choice. We are not taking away their right as they can choose whether or not they want their names to be included in the exempted list.
“The exemption is just a facility being provided so that they can choose whether to vote or not and whether to register or to be exempted,” said Wan Junaidi.
He added that the proposed names to be given exemption needed to be agreed to by the Conference of Rulers first before the order of exemption was issued.