KUCHING: Sarawak people are not worried about the proposed move to ratify United Nations' International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD) despite it being hotly debated in Peninsular Malaysia.
Parti Amanah Negara (Amanah) communications director Khalid Abdul Samad said he believed this was because Sarawakians have learnt to live peacefully and harmoniously with one another.
“Look at the multiracial society here, they are not affected by the issue. Sarawak has always set the best example when it comes to racial and religious tolerance. Also, I believe it is also because there's no Umno here,"
The Federal Territories Minister said although Pas has a presence in the state, its members appeared to have realised that playing up such issue would be a waste of time.
Speaking at the state Amanah headquarters in Jalan Matang here, Khalid said the ICERD issue had been played up by certain quarters to "save" Umno leaders.
He said it was suprising that Umno managed to influence Pas to cooperate with them on the matter.
It was reported that both parties are planning to hold a mega gathering to oppose ICERD in Kuala Lumpur on Dec 8.
The government, in a brief statement on Saturday, had announced that it would not be ratifying the ICERD.
The Prime Minister’s Office had said that the government would continue to uphold the Federal Constitution and the agreed upon social contract enshrined within.
“Although they (Umno and Pas) claimed to be defending the Muslims and bumiputera's rights, they are actually trying to create instability in the country, to 'save' Umno leaders,” Khalid said.
The special rights of the Malays as enshrined in the Constitution including the institution of the Malay Rulers and the position of Islam as the federal religion have nothing to do with race supremacy, he said.
“For instance, in Sarawak, the people of all races can live together under one roof, respect and tolerate each other while acknowledging the special rights of the Malays.
"People here are willing to share. Extremism has no place here,” he said.
Meanwhile, commenting on an Utusan Malaysia report, Khalid said it was unacceptable that "amendments" had been made to the audit report on the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).
“The audit report should not be manipulated by any parties.” he added.
Utusan Malaysia had reported that the auditor-general's report on 1MDB in 2016 was "amended" on the instructions of the then prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.
Citing sources, the Malay daily reported that the amendments involved the removal of information regarding Najib and businessman Low Taek Jho or Jho Low's involvement in 1MDB.