Anwar set to debate motion on Icerd, speaker clips his wings

PARLIAMENT | Dewan Rakyat speaker Mohamad Ariff Mohd Yusof has rejected Anwar Ibrahim’s (Harapan-Port Dickson) urgent motion to debate and support the government’s decision not the ratify the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (Icerd).

Arif also rejected the de facto Pakatan Harapan leader's move to revive the motion in the assembly, citing a lack of urgency to debate the matter.

“I don’t think this matter needs to be expedited.

“Although I have allowed you to give an explanation so that people would understand what the contents of the motion are, my decision still stands, which is that I reject your motion (to debate),” he said.

Earlier, just prior to the resumption of debates on the 2019 budget proposal, Anwar urged the speaker to reconsider the decision to reject the motion.

The motion, Anwar said, is unprecedented because it is seconded by Ahmad Zahid Hamidi (BN-Bagan Datuk), DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang (Harapan-Iskandar Puteri), and PAS deputy president Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man (PAS-Kubang Kerian).

“Speaker, I understand the considerations that led to my motion to be rejected, so I respect that decision.

"However, I stress that there is still room for the speaker to allow my colleagues (and I) to voice our views because this is a matter that has caused anxiety to the nation," he told the Dewan.

“We should not cast the matter aside simply because the cabinet has made its decision. MPs in this assembly should be given space too, and there is no contradiction here. 

"We bring forward a motion to support the cabinet’s position so that there is no mistake, confusion or ambiguity (about our position)."

Anwar noted that other countries that have ratified Icerd ought to be lauded for their attempt to fight the oppression they face.

African nations ratified the United Nations treaty because of South Africa’s history of apartheid, he said, while Arab nations did so in response to Israeli oppression of ethnic Arabs.

He added that Malaysia need not apologise for rejecting Icerd, given that the Federal Constitution provides adequate safeguards against racial discrimination. - Mkini