PETALING JAYA: Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Abdullah should "grow up and accept his role" in trying to ratify the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (Icerd), says P. Waytha Moorthy (pic).
Saifuddin had claimed that Waytha, who was national unity and social well-being minister in the Pakatan Harapan government, was the lead minister in the move to ratify Icerd.
Waytha blasted the claim as "a blatant lie," saying that the ratification was not under his purview.
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"Being in charge of National Unity and Social Wellbeing, how could I take charge of negotiations with the United Nations on Malaysia’s commitment to ratify an international treaty?
"The issue on Icerd erupted because Saifuddin inserted Malaysia's commitment to it in the speech Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad delivered at the UN General Assembly.
"It is a widely known fact that he (Saifuddin) did that on his own as part of Pakatan Harapan’s manifesto to ratify all remaining UN conventions," Waytha said in a Facebook post on Friday (Oct 28).
"The task of ratifying international treaties is clearly within the job scope of foreign minister, the law minister and the Attorney General’s Chambers," Waytha wrote.
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He added that Saifuddin’s allegations against him showed the Indera Mahkota MP was desperate to avoid liability and responsibility for the issue.
"He has to grow up and accept his role in convincing Tun to deliver Malaysia’s commitment to accept Icerd at the general assembly," said Waytha, who is also president of the Malaysian Advancement Party.
Apart from saying he was not lead minister in the Icerd ratification attempt, Saifuddin also said he did not recall seeing a Cabinet paper on the matter, and had no idea why he was being attacked over the issue.
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On Saturday (Oct 22), PAS president Tan Sri Abdul Hadi Awang said he had initiated the Sheraton Move that brought down Pakatan’s administration in 2020.
He said the move was engineered because the government at the time seemed intent on eradicating the special rights of the Malays by, among other things, ratifying Icerd.
