Ph Disunity Lack Of Will Scuttled Anti Discrimination Treaty Says Analyst

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Denison Jayasooria believes that the push for ICERD failed because of misinformation and political agendas.PETALING JAYA: Pakatan Harapan (PH) did not show unity in defending the ratification of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD) when it was in power, says a sociologist.
Denison Jayasooria of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia said the coalition did not make their case in support of the ICERD strongly enough.
“PH was not very united within its own ranks, and did not show a united front across the board. Their defence to ratifying ICERD and the public policy presentation was not strong enough,” he said at a panel discussion on Perceptions Towards Discrimination in Malaysia.
He believed that the push for ICERD had failed due to misinformation and political agendas, adding that there was insufficient leadership politically on both sides to stand up to these issues.
Denison said the understanding of ICERD needs to be strengthened, pointing out that the conspiracy narrative among the Malay community had dominated discussions on ratifying the convention.
Merdeka Center’s Ibrahim Suffian said that the acceptance of ICERD was divided based on ethnic lines – “61% of Malays oppose ICERD, but high numbers of non-Bumiputeras supported it, that is 88% of the Chinese and 90% of the Indians”.
The figures are from the center’s preliminary findings on the perception towards ICERD and national unity in Malaysia.
However, Malay support for ICERD can improve with guarantees on Article 153 of the Federal Constitution on the special privileges of the Malays and Bumiputeras in Sabah and Sarawak, he said.
Regarding the makeup of political parties, Ibrahim said on the surface of it, many had agreed that all political parties should be racially mixed.
“There is a large acceptance for multiracial coalitions, even among Malays (78%),” said Ibrahim.
However, he said that such acceptance is to varying degrees as research has shown that it depends on the community.
“For example, a majority of Malays want a mixed ethnic coalition with the Malay party having more say. The Chinese and other minorities want one where all ethnicities have equal say. (Many) people want mixed ethnic representation, but the difference is who has more say,” he said.
The webinar was hosted by Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs in conjunction with the international day for the elimination of racial discrimination, which falls on March 21. - FMT

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