PRIME Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad said Putrajaya will see if there is a need to revisit the ratification of the international treaties withdrawn and if they are compatible with the Malaysian culture.  

“We will look at them and see whether they are compatible with our culture or not,” he said when asked if Putrajaya will revisit the ratification of the Rome Statute and the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD).

The government was forced to cave in to pressures by several quarters to not accede to the UN treaties, eventually leading to an about-turn. 

Asked if he foresees any objection to attempts to ratify other treaties which was part of Pakatan Harapan’s manifesto promise, Dr Mahathir said there are obstacles in the way and a lot of promises that cannot be delivered immediately.  

“There are a lot of promises which we cannot deliver overnight. There are obstacles in the way.

“They are not easy to resolve. It will take time but we will try and deliver as much as possible considering the circumstance,” he said.

He told this in a group interview with the media today in conjunction with PH’s first year in power.

PH had previously stated that it will ratify suitable international conventions that are not ratified as soon as possible. 

Malaysia is already a state party to three UN treaties – the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women; the Convention on the Rights of the Child; and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

However, attempts to ratify the Rome Statute and ICERD backfired with certain quarters playing up the race and religious issues to force the government to backtrack.

The royals, too, got into the act by opposing the international conventions, saying that they would erode their powers which are protected by the constitution. – May 6, 2019.