MORE than 200 people gathered at the Sabah mosque in Sembulan, Kota Kinabalu, today to oppose the proposed ratification the International Convention to Elimination of all forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD).

They said they will force the politicians out of office if they insist in proceeding with the ratification of the anti-racism convention.

“We never had any racial discord and therefore why should even bothered by having the ratify ICERD,” said Gabungan Mahasiswa Islam Se-Malaysia (Gamis) Sabah spokesman, Kamran Muhamad Bahron.

The group of 200 included members from Umno, PAS, Gamis and others, who gathered at the mosque after Friday prayers.

Also present was the Sabah Umno Youth chief Aziz Abdul Julkarnain.

Opposition to ICERD has been mounting since Minister in the Prime Minister’s department P. Waytha Moorthy announced that putrajaya intended to ratify the United Nations convention.

Aziz said the time has not come for Malaysia, especially those in the Sabah, to ratify the convention as the rural-urban gap still exist.

He said proper social justice is not about giving equal rights to all races, but also protection must be given to those who are left behind.

Aziz said the rural Bumiputeras in Sabah are left behind in terms of wealth while the Chinese have a stranglehold on businesses in urban areas.

“Tell you honestly, most of the land in the city belong to the Chinese, but the Bumiputeras did not discriminate them.

“Instead, the free market has allowed the other races to accumulate unlimited wealth, hence, why should we ratify the convention?” he questioned.

Azis said there was no need to ratify ICERD when the country is already peaceful, adding that Waytha Moorthy was only inciting racial racial tension against all Malaysians.

Putrajaya has today announced that it will not pursue the ratification of ICERD. – November 23, 2018.