THE fear of losing Malay support and facing attacks from the opposition were key reasons Putrajaya decided not to ratify the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD), said government sources.

These issues were discussed at the cabinet meeting yesterday where the Pakatan Harapan administration also wanted to reduce the ongoing tension and potential fallout arising from the ICERD issue.

“The government decided not to ratify ICERD because it was worried about losing Malay support,” a government source told The Malaysian Insight.

A study by Ilham Centre after the 14th general election (GE14) showed that the Pakatan Harapan (PH) government only gained 17% of the Malay votes in Peninsular Malaysia to defeat Barisan Nasional (BN).

The research found PAS received 35% of Malay support while BN received 40%.

As such, keeping the Malay support is vital for PH in the face of attempts by Umno and PAS to play up the race card.

The source said there were also concerns that Umno and PAS will use this opportunity to attack the government.

Another source said the decision had to be made since ICERD had become a hot-button issue which needed immediate attention.

“The issue was hot and the cabinet wanted to reduce tension.

“Discussions on the ratification have to be done rationally, not at the time when the situation was heated,” the source said.

Umno, PAS and Malay-rights groups had planned a massive demonstration on December 8 to protest the ratification of the ICERD.

Police had to step in and haul up several Malay leaders for issuing incendiary statements, threatening Malaysians that there would be racial riots similar to the May 13, 1969 incident, if Putrajaya went ahead to ratify ICERD.

Against the backdrop of these threats, the Prime Minister’s Office announced yesterday that the government had decided not to ratify the UN convention, and would instead defend the social contract as stated in the federal constitution.

But it was not an easy decision to reach as several cabinet ministers expressed frustration that the government was easily cowed by the threats.

They suggested that the decision be deferred and that they reach out to the ground and explain ICERD to the masses.

“Several ministers argued that Putrajaya should not make a decision yet so that the issue can be revisited later,” said the source.

“But after three hours of of hearing all sides, the cabinet decided not to ratify the ICERD as the situation on the ground could turn explosive,” the source added.

The ICERD issue blew up on October 26 when Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department P. Waytha Moorthy said that the federal government was committed on ratifying six human rights treaties, including ICERD, in the first quarter of next year.

Waytha Moorthy’s announcement came after Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s speech at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in September where he said the new government would acknowledge the remaining instruments of the world body on human rights protection.

Following the statement by Waytha Moorthy, ICERD became a heated topic among many quarters, including civil society groups and political parties, with many Malay groups and opposition parties claiming the ratification of ICERD would undermine Malay rights and Islam as enshrined in the federal constitution.

Malaysia is among 14 countries which have yet to confirm the treaty.

Dr Mahathir then said there will be discussions involving all races before ICERD is ratified, and he admitted that it was not an easy thing to do since Malaysia is a multiracial country.

Another source meanwhile said the decision to drop the ICERD ratification was made to ensure plans by Umno and PAS to hold a rally on December 8 became irrelevant.

“The cabinet meeting’s decision on ICERD is to ensure the push by PAS and Umno became irrelevant. What else would they want to gather for after this?

“That is Dr Mahathir’s strategy to quieten down the opposition as when the ICERD issue dies down, the rally would be irrelevant,” said the source.

PAS, however, had said it would proceed with plan to gather at Dataran Merdeka on December 8 to celebrate victory. – November 24, 2018.