CHAPTER 2 - REPORT OF THE COMPLAINTS AND INQUIRIES WORKING GROUP In the revocation of Mageswari d/o Koothan’s Malaysian citizenship, the Commission held a meeting with the Secretary-General of the Ministry of Home Affairs to discuss the case on 13 July. The Ministry verified that the revocation was based on the reason that her name appeared in the voters’ list of the Republic of India; that the revocation process was done legally in accordance with the prescribed procedure. The complainant is currently a stateless person, as the Government of India has not recognised her as a citizen either. The Commission had received similar complaints previously, either from the individuals affected or on behalf of others. The Commission would like to highlight that citizenship is a special status held by a person, and that it grants certain rights, benefits and facilities to the person. While the Government has the power to revoke citizenship as stipulated under the Federal Constitution, the revocation of citizenship should be exercised cautiously to prevent hardship to any person. This would also infringe Article 158 of the UDHR which establishes the right of a person to belong to a country. (i) Elections On 14 January the Commission held a meeting with the Election Commission (EC) in Putrajaya. Chaired by the Chairman of EC, Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Yusof, the meeting was held following receipt of a memorandum from Parti Islam Se-Malaya alleging mischief pertaining to the conduct of postal voting in the Bagan Pinang by-election. The Commission recommended the following improvements with regard to the postal voting system: (i) The EC must ensure that its agent (camp personnel appointed by the EC) adheres to the list approved by the EC. Any such reproduction of list for administrative purposes must be verified accordingly by EC officials. (ii) The EC must ensure that the Electoral List is updated constantly. This could be done through close cooperation with relevant agencies such as the National Registration Department and the Department of Records and Pension, Armed Forces. This real-time record keeping would ensure that names of voters do not appear twice in the Electoral List. (iii) The EC should establish guidelines with regard to the handling and delivery of postal ballot papers. 8 Article 15: (1) Everyone has the right to a nationality. (2) No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his nationality nor denied the right to change his nationality. 46