PAS’ insistence on holding the rally against the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD) on Saturday is not about the United Nations convention, but about the party’s political survival, said DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng.

He said the rally no longer had any relevance as the cabinet had already decided not to ratify ICERD.

Lim said PAS intended to use the protest to pit Muslims against non-Muslims.

“DAP will leave it to Malaysians to decide whether PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang is being extremist or responsible by making provocative statements pitting Muslims against non-Muslims,” he said in a statement today.

Hadi recently insisted the need for the rally because Muslim MPs had been outnumbered by non-Muslim MPs in Pakatan Harapan.

Lim refuted this claim, saying Hadi wanted to continue to divide Malaysians by pitting the Muslim majority against the non-Muslims.

“The Bumiputera MPs, which include the non-Muslim Bumiputeras, outnumber the non-Bumiputeras 70 to 58 in the PH coalition.   

“Does Hadi consider non-Muslim Bumiputeras from Sabah and Sarawak unequal to the status of Muslim Bumiputeras?

“There is no question of Muslims outnumbering non-Muslims within the cabinet,” he said.

Of the 28 ministers (including the prime minister and senators), 17 are Muslims (61%) and 11 are non-Muslims (39%).

Among the 27 deputy ministers, 18 are Muslim (67%) and 9 are non-Muslim (33%).

There are 140 Muslim MPs compared to 82 non-Muslim MPs in Parliament.

Lim said if Hadi refuses to call off the rally, he should use the occasion to protest all the financial scandals that took place under Barisan Nasional’s rule.

“This would be the right thing to do for all Malaysians, both for Muslims and non-Muslims,” he said. – December 5, 2018.