GEORGE TOWN: DAP will leave it to Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad to address any issue on the ratification of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD).
Its secretary-general Lim Guan Eng said it was best left to Dr Mahathir to handle the matter.
He asked the delegates attending the Penang DAP Convention if they agreed with him, to which they gave him a resounding ‘yes’.
“Let us not add anything unnecessary to this. Let us not dance to their racial tune,” he said in wrapping up his speech at the state DAP convention this afternoon.
Lim said Dr Mahathir had said that the government would listen to public opinion before deciding on ratifying the ICERD, and assured there would be no riots or chaos, unless Umno president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi stirs up trouble.
“However, this matter is being used by the opposition to stir up racial tension when the government is still listening to public opinion.
“So it is best for us to leave it to Dr Mahathir to handle the matter,” he said.
The government recently announced its plans to ratify ICERD alongside five other UN treaties in the first quarter of next year.
Since then, many politicians, including Cabinet members, have expressed objection to the move following public backlash.
Meanwhile, Lim said it was this same racial tune being played by Pas against DAP when the latter accused the former of being uncouth to the Malay rulers by denying the Datukship title conferred to its lawmakers.
“Let me stress here that we have full respect towards the Malay rulers. There is no doubt about that.
“However, we are just ‘educating’ our own members not to chase for titles but the priority should be serving the people first.
“So, Pas should not turn this into a racial issue, that we do not support the Malay rulers. This is a dangerous slander and we condemn such an action,” he added.
Lim stressed that such hate politics had no place in society and he could not just keep quiet when the party was attacked by Pas, and it was his duty to put things in order.
“I don’t understand why outsiders want to interfere in our business. We have to be careful about such efforts,” he noted.
Pas treasurer Razman Zakaria, during the Himpunan Perpaduan Ummah in Pasir Salak last night, had labelled DAP as rude for not accepting any title by the Malay rulers.