PETALING JAYA: A police report will be lodged over a social media post allegedly made by PAS claiming that 54,000 Chinese nationals were in the process of being granted Malaysian citizenship, says Economy Minister Rafizi Ramli.
“I will be speaking with Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail so that we can file a police report against this post because it is clearly criminal defamation and a lie to say that these Chinese nationals are in the process of receiving citizenship,” he said.
“PAS has to take responsibility for spewing out lies like this,” he said yesterday in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.
In a post on the “Pas Pusat” account, Bersatu information chief Datuk Razali Idris had said that the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) should investigate Saifuddin and the National Registration Department (NRD) for allegedly granting citizenship to 54,000 Chinese nationals.
“(This) 54,000 is too high a number and the public wants this issue to be dealt with quickly and wisely.
“Our national sovereignty has to be protected, together with our special rights as Malaysian citizens,” he was quoted as saying.
Bersatu and PAS are part of the Perikatan Nasional coalition.
On Aug 18, the NRD denied the allegation, claiming that Saifuddin’s statement on Jan 9 had been manipulated.
It said that 54,000 applications for citizenship were received between 2017 and 2022, from individuals from diverse backgrounds and countries of origin.
The applications were made in accordance with the Federal Constitution, the department said.
Only 45 individuals from China were granted Malaysian citizenship between 2019 and July 31 this year, the NRD added.
