PETALING JAYA: There are no issues that could have threatened the position of Malay Muslims in the last seven months since the unity government was formed, says Umno veteran Tan Sri Shahrir Samad.
In a Facebook post yesterday, Shahrir claimed that the country under the Pakatan Harapan leadership in 2018 had sparked a protest when it tried to ratify the UN convention, the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (Icerd), seven months after the then coalition was sworn in.
The former Johor Baru MP alleged there were efforts to push secularism in the Pakatan coalition in 2018, despite the presence of Malay Muslim leaders such as Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin of Bersatu and Datuk Seri Azmin Ali of PKR.
“If there are claims that Islam is under threat because of DAP and PKR, the difference now is that Dr Mahathir, Muhyiddin and Azmin are no longer part of the government. They are on the outside.
“Barisan Nasional is currently part of the government. And in the past seven months since the unity government was formed, there were no issues that threatened Islam unlike Icerd,” he said when comparing the first seven months of the administration of the Pakatan coalition led by Dr Mahathir and the government under Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
In 2018, Icerd was not ratified by the government after facing strong backlash from the people.
The opposition against the UN convention was because it contravened Article 153 of the Federal Constitution, which touches on the special rights of the Malays and bumiputra in the country.
