KUALA LUMPUR — Allegations that the ratification of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD) will abolish the privileges of the Malays and Bumiputeras in Sabah and Sarawak are lies, said Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department P. Waytha Moorthy.
In a statement, he said that the perception that the ICERD would result in the abolition of Article 153 of the Federal Constitution is incorrect and was aimed at confusing and raising the people’s concerns.
“I would like to reiterate that the ICERD ratification with exemptions would not have any effect on Article 153 of the Federal Constitution in any way,” he said.
Former Chief Justice of Malaysia Abdul Hamid Mohamad was reported to have made such an allegation in an interview with a Malay daily on Thursday (Nov 1).
Waytha Moorthy also said that the government would consult all stakeholders involved so as to get their views and feedback from them before the convention was ratified .
“The government is in no hurry to ratify the ICERD because it wants to gather as much feedback as possible from all stakeholders. Many other Islamic countries like Yemen, Indonesia, Pakistan and Kuwait have ratified the ICERD, and Malaysia is taking steps to ratify the ICERD with exemptions,” he said.
On Oct 24, Bernama also reported Waytha Moorthy’s statement that Malaysia was committed to ratifying six human rights treaties including the ICERD in the first quarter of next year.
He said that the ratification was also in line with the Pakatan Harapan (PH) manifesto (for the 14th General Election held on May 9 this year).
— BERNAMA
