KUALA Lumpur City Hall has given its approval for the protest against the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD) to proceed. 

Media reported today that Mayor Nor Hisham Ahmad Dahlan has given the go-ahead as long as the protest organised by Malay-Muslim groups Ummah and Sekretariat Kedaulatan Negara be conducted “peacefully”.

He said the decision was made after consulting the police and other government agencies.

“We are allowing their gathering, hoping they will obey the law. Since the gathering is more of a thanksgiving (kesyukuran), we will give the green light,“ he was quoted as saying.

The protest, which is expected to see the participation of opposition parties Umno and PAS, and Malay rights group Perkasa, will be held on Jalan Raja, opposite the Sultan Abdul Samad building and Dataran Merdeka from 2pm to 6pm this Saturday.

Right-wing Malay groups, including PAS and Umno leaders, have been pushing for the rally to go on despite Putrajaya backtracking on its pledge to ratify ICERD.

They have been claiming that ratifying ICERD would erode Malay special privileges and the position of Islam as the country’s official religion.   

Last night, PAS spiritual leader Hashim Jasin told a rally in Perlis that the protest was necessary to send a strong message to the international community and the Malaysian government that the people would not accept the ICERD.

Earlier last month, Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi also remarked that Malays would run amok if the government ratified ICERD.

Only 14 countries, including Malaysia, North Korea, Brunei and Myanmar, have not ratified ICERD. – December 3, 2018.