KUALA LUMPUR: Kuala Lumpur Mayor Datuk Nor Hisham Ahmad Dahlan (pix) has given the green light for the anti-ICERD rally to be held at Jalan Raja here on Dec 8 on the condition that it will be conducted peacefully.
At a press conference at Menara DBKL 1, here today, Nor Hisham said the go-ahead decision was made after discussions with government agencies and police.
“We are allowing their gathering hoping they would obey the law. Since the gathering is more into thanksgiving, (kesyukuran) we will give the green light,“ he said.
“The gathering will be allowed from 2pm to 6pm along Jalan Raja opposite Bangunan Sultan Abdul Samad and Dataran Merdeka.”
Also present was City police chief Commissioner Datuk Seri Mazlan Lazim.
Mazlan said the city police received a permit application from the organisers on Nov 27.
“We received the application from Malay-Muslim NGO Ummah and Sekretariat Kedaulatan Negara. We hope they will adhere to the existing laws,“ he added.
The City Hall (DBKL) is expected to close the Dataran Merdeka field near the gathering.
The rally against the UN’s International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD) is being organised by Malay-Muslim NGO Ummah and Sekretariat Kedaulatan Negara.
Both PAS and Umno have declared they would join the rally, as will members of Malay rights group Perkasa.
The debate over ICERD erupted after a speech by Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad at the UN General Assembly in September, where he said the Pakatan Harapan government would ratify the remaining human rights conventions endorsed by the world body.
However, after protests and threats of Malays running “amok” by Umno president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, the government backtracked and said it would not ratify the anti-racial discrimination treaty.
The organisers said the rally would now be one of celebration, rather than protest.
Malaysia is one of only 14 countries in the world that have yet to ratify ICERD, along the likes of North Korea, Myanmar and South Sudan.
