KUALA LUMPUR, April 11 -- It was Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim's intervention that led to the government halting its planned amendments to the citizenship law that would have denied Malaysian citizenship for babies found abandoned in the country, according to Minister of Natural Resources and Environmental Sustainability Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad.

The two of the much talked-about eight constitutional amendments on Malaysian citizenship that was tabled in Parliament last month by Home Minister Senator Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail had been abruptly pulled at the last minute before the second reading, following intense public criticism.

"... I recognise that some or many civil societies are still unhappy with certain parts but ...