KUALA LUMPUR: The government should suspend its plans to ratify the contentious International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD) to avoid public tension, said Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
The Port Dickson MP said the government should take this into consideration, adding that deferring the ratification until all uncertainties had been ironed out did not mean the country does not uphold equality.
“Calls to postpone ratification does not mean we dispute the spirit of equality. I have also called for it to be deferred because no matter how much we try to explain the matter, it still needs international ratification.
“And as such, to avoid any possibilities of tension, I stress that we need to consider the rakyat’s worries and review the matter,” he said in the Dewan Rakyat, here, today.
“I call on the minister not to carry on with the ratification until discussions are finalised. I urge that the issue not be prolonged, and just postpone it,” he added.
Anwar said this during the winding up speech by Foreign Minister Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah for the 2019 Budget, after several MPs from both sides of the political divide voiced their concerns on ICERD.
In response, Saifuddin said any decisions on the ratification of the convention would only be made by the cabinet, after taking into account the opinions raised by parliamentarians.
Earlier, government lawmaker Hassan Abdul Karim (PH-Pasir Gudang) had also called for the deferment of ICERD, claiming the matter was not only rejected by opposition members, but also ordinary citizens.
“I went back to my hometown recently, and I must say the ones voicing objections there are not Umno or PAS members, but normal Malay and Muslim rakyat.
“They asked me that if possible, put on hold this ratification. We have just experienced a change in government, there have been a drop in prices of commodity, and our economy is also not stable. So I ask the minister and cabinet’s wisdom to give priority to what is more important,” he said.
Khairy Jamaluddin (BN-Rembau) also said that he had previously warned that any plans to ratify ICERD would cause unease among the rakyat as it touches on the sensitivities of the Malays.
To this, Saifuddin maintained that should the government decide to ratify it, ICERD would not supersede the federal constitution and the country’s existing laws, adding that other less-controversial conventions that were yet to be ratified will be given priority.
“We will not rush into ratifying ICERD. We will not do things that will cause problem to the country. Regardless what the situation is, we will uphold the body of the constitution,” he said.
