PAKATAN Harapan’s long-term agenda is to sow the seeds of unity among all Malaysians despite attempts by some to disrupt harmony, said P. Waytha Moorthy.

Speaking to the media ahead of PH’s one year in power, the minister in the Prime Minister’s Department said since assuming power last May, the coalition faced challenges from parties who frequently played up racial and religious issues to disrupt the peace among the people.

“This is a serious matter. Some politicians are playing up all these issues for political mileage.

“But we must not have a sense of prejudice against any race. We also don’t want any of the races to be cast aside,” he said.

He gave the example of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD) issue which the government had to backtrack from ratifying following objections from the Malay ground and certain Malay political parties.

The minister in charge of unity affairs said ICERD was good for the country but was misunderstood by those who had objected against the convention.

“It doesn’t matter. Eventually people will know (what it is all about),” he said.

Waytha Moorthy also said that racism was getting rampant on social media by people with fake accounts.

“There are people who deliberately create problems with fake accounts and they say things that upset the close relationship with the other races.  

“The government takes this very seriously and action will be taken and they will be investigated,” he said. 

He added that racism is not only rife during by-elections but can also be seen during the parliamentary sitting.

“The opposition parties have raised many issues pertaining to race and religion and they mislead the public on the truth.

“They twist facts and portray to the public that there is a serious issue. The issue of the Rome Statute was not explained to the public and they choose to mislead them.

“This has caused alarm and anxiety among the Malay community. These are the things we have to address in the right context,” he said.

On April 5, Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad announced Malaysia’s decision to back out from ratifying the Rome Statute on the International Criminal Court following the confusion that arose politically as well as among the members of public.

Waytha Moorthy said he understands that the people have high expectations of the government and want changes but that can’t be done in a year.

“To measure PH in one year is not fair. We will need time.  

“We will continue to strive for unity as our main agenda and organise many programmes to foster closer ties,” he said.

He also said that his job was not the easiest of all ministers, and that he was not one of the favourite ministers around.

This is the prize he has gotten for doing his job, he said.

“Probably I’m in a position where I do things which are good for the country at large but there are some people who don’t like it.

“When it’s not understood by the people and when other people mislead others, I become a target and not a favourite,” he said. – April 24, 2019.