Zahid: Are you a Muslim, Saifuddin?

Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi today questioned the faith of Foreign Minister Saifuddin Abdullah for wanting the government to ratify the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (Icerd).

In his speech during an Umno programme in Kuala Lumpur, Zahid said the issue of Icerd was not political but about defending provisions enshrined in the country's constitution.

"And more, the Foreign Minister, (he) defended (the ratification plan) because of Reformasi movement.

"Eh, are you a Muslim? This is not about politics, it's not. We are only asking for what had been enshrined in the constitution to be defended. Isn't that right?" he said in the Turun Padang programme with Federal Territories (FT) Umno at the Putra World Trade Centre.

Zahid's remarks were received with loud cheers from the several hundreds Umno members in attendance.

Right before rebuking Saifuddin, Zahid had trained his gun to the de facto national unity minister P. Waythamoorthy, whom the Umno president described as a "minister of disunity rather than unity".

Branding Waythamoorthy as being the "dalang" (culprit) behind the issue of Icerd, Zahid also sarcastically questioned the minister's action of bringing an outsider to the Parliament during his swearing-in ceremony in July.

"In this situation, do not forget that there was a culprit behind it (Icerd). For the swearing-in ceremony in Parliament, there is a dress code. I am not trying to stop anyone, but why does (he) want to bring an outsider?

"Who does he want to 'mandrem' (cast black magic) to? I am not mentioning names here... I don't. But Najib (Razak) appointed him as a deputy minister, but later he resigned.

"Now he was appointed as a unity minister. But he is actually the minister of disunity," he said.

In his speech, Zahid also said that Umno appreciated the government's decision to not ratify the convention.

He added that this was why the party members and supporters would still attend the planned Dec 8 rally against Icerd.

"We want to express our thankfulness to the government who decided to reject Icerd ratification.

"And on this basis we will attend the rally en masse to deliver our appreciation," he said. - Mkini