KUALA LUMPUR: Thousands of demonstrators celebrating the government’s move against ratifying the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD) have begun assembling at the Sogo shopping centre at Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman here.
As of 10.30am this morning, approximately 2,000 people dressed in white t-shirts are gathered outside the popular mall.
Their numbers are expected to swell, and the crowd is scheduled to march to Dataran Merdeka shortly.
Some of the participants arrived here as early as 6am.
Policemen are facilitating the flow of traffic in the area and the situation is largely under control.
The authorities are also conducting crowd surveillance from the air.
On Nov 23, the Prime Minister’s Office announced that the Pakatan Harapan (PH) government will not ratify the ICERD as planned, and instead will continue to uphold the Federal Constitution.
Despite this, groups opposing the ICERD’s ratification announced that they will carry on with a planned demonstration on Dec 8.
The announcement, made by Gerakan Pembela Ummah secretariat Aminuddin Yahaya, was followed by a statement from Umno president Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, who said that members of his party will join the gathering as a show of ‘thanks’ to the PH government.