Oceania

Citizenship Crisis Rocks Australia’s Turnbull Government

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Oceania

Citizenship Crisis Rocks Australia’s Turnbull Government

The ouster of lawmakers over dual citizenship is threatening Turnbull’s grip on power.

Citizenship Crisis Rocks Australia’s Turnbull Government

In this July 19, 2016, file photo, Australia’s Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce takes the oath of office as he is sworn in at Government House in Canberra, Australia.

Credit: AP Photo/Rob Griffith

And another one gone, and another one gone/Another one bites the dust,” sang British rock group Queen. Unfortunately for Australia’s Turnbull government, six lawmakers have bit the dust and more could be gone soon amid a growing constitutional crisis over citizenship that threatens the center-right Coalition’s grip on power.

Section 44 of Australia’s Constitution bars from political office any person who has “any acknowledgment of allegiance, obedience, or adherence to a foreign power, or is a subject or a citizen or entitled to the rights or privileges of a subject or a citizen of a foreign power.”

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