FEDERAL Territories Minister Khalid Samad denied that the Pakatan Harapan government had bowed to pressure from right-wing Malay groups when it made a U-turn on ratifying the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD).
He said the cabinet made the decision not to accede to the United Nations accord “based on the environment”.
The Amanah information chief, in a high-tea get-together with journalists in Kuching today, said if the cabinet had ratified the convention, it believed “misinformed people” will create chaos because they believed the pact was against the federal constitution and the special position of Malays.
“To what extent, we probably will never be able to verify.”
Khalid said the government had hoped for an open discussion on the issue.
“Unfortunately, what had happened is that they never gave us a chance to discuss the issue.
“In such a tense situation, it is very difficult to discuss anything.
“We did not want to make the situation worse.”
But what was important, Khalid said, was that “in the final analysis, we (the government) implement policies that do not discriminate against anyone based on race or religious beliefs”.
“We have been doing this all the while. The ratification was just a formality.
He said what is important now is “we just carry on and teach the people not to discriminate”.
Khalid blamed Umno for stirring up sentiment against ICERD.
He said many of the issues, like Malay supremacy, the party had exploited was not even stated in the constitution.
“Malay supremacy has never been in the constitution. What is in the constitution is the special position of the Malays and Bumiputeras, and that is not supremacy.
“The Malays still have to compete with other races (for a place in Malaysia). They have to work.”
Khalid said ICERD protests were big in the peninsula because of Umno.
He said it was good that there is no Umno in Sarawak, (that’s why) “you don’t have this problem”.
On Malay right-wing group Perkasa’s demand that the government table a resolution in Parliament to “officially reject” ICERD, Samad dismissed it as not necessary.
He said the demand by Perkasa president Ibrahim Ali was just another excuse to hold a demonstration.
“It’s an attempt to topple the government through undemocratic means so that at the end of the day, (former prime minister) Najib (Razak) is saved, (former deputy prime minister Ahmad) Zahid (Hamidi) is saved, and (his predecessor, former federal territories minister Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor) Ku Nan is saved.
On the planned December 8 anti-ICERD rally at Dataran Merdeka, Khalid said he has not received any formal application to hold the rally there.
He said however, DBKL had earlier stated Dataran Merdeka is closed due to the River of Life project. – November 24, 2018.
History, propaganda are no bedfellows
Penang Institute wants to draw locals back to lit fest
Honouring the spirit of Malaysia 1963
Umno bukan lagi pemain politik negara, kata penganalisis
Comments
Posted 7 years ago by Lee Lee · Reply
Posted 7 years ago by Tanahair Ku · Reply
Posted 7 years ago by Lipdah Lia · Reply
Posted 7 years ago by Mo Salleh · Reply
Posted 7 years ago by Rock Hensem · Reply