KUALA LUMPUR: PKR president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim is of the opinion that declaring a public holiday for the purpose of the rally against the International Convention of the Elimination of all forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD) is not rational.
He was commenting on Kelantan declaring Dec 9 (Sunday) a holiday in the state, a day after the planned anti-ICERD rally in Dataran Merdeka, here.
“It’s not reasonable to give a holiday to demonstrate,” said Anwar when met at the Parliament lobby, here, today.
In related development, Anwar said he did not want to cast aspersions against anyone, when asked about his former Umno colleague Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.
He was asked about Ahmad Zahid who has been marked by Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad as the most likely to instigate trouble over the ICERD issue.
Anwar said he did not want to pre-empt, when reporters asked if he had any advice to give Ahmad Zahid who is also Umno president.
“I don’t want to pre-empt or cast aspersions against anyone unless the police have compelling evidence against any individuals or groups.
“We must affirm our position is clear. And that the cabinet is not going to ratify the treaty, but we respect democratic rights and will not say no to public demonstrations,” he said, adding that it was important to ensure order and peace.
He also stressed that he would abide by the cabinet decision on ICERD.