2018 anti-ICERD rally

The Anti-ICERD (International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination) Rally or Himpunan Aman Bantah ICERD (Malay) is a rally that was held in Dataran Merdeka, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on December 8, 2018. The rally were organised by opposition political parties Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS) and United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), with the support of various non-governmental organisations. [2]

2018 anti-ICERD rally
A bird's-eye-view of the protest at its peak.
Date8 December 2018
Location
Dataran Merdeka, Kuala Lumpur
Caused byProtest against ratifying the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD)
MethodsDemonstration, praying (salat and dua), speeches
Parties to the civil conflict
Lead figures
Ahmad Zahid Hamidi
Mohamad Hasan
Ismail Sabri Yaakob
Abdul Hadi Awang
Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man
Takiyuddin Hassan
Aminuddin Yahya		 Mahathir Mohamad
Waytha Moorthy Ponnusamy
Number
1,500,000 (expected participants)
500,000 (organisers estimate)[1]
55,000 (police estimate)[1]

The rally was held in response to the new Malaysian government's ratification of the UN convention known as International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD). The opposition parties from UMNO and PAS seriously deny the convention to be ratified as it is contrary to the constitution, especially Malay and Bumiputra special rights. Even the government have announced to not ratify the convention on 23 November 2018, the main focus of this rally is to celebrate government's decision of not ratifying ICERD.[3]

Background

The International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD) is a United Nations convention which commits its members to the elimination of racial discrimination and the promotion of understanding among all races. Malaysia is one of the 18 countries in the world that have not ratified this convention, it is also one of the two Muslim-majority countries that have yet to ratified along with Brunei. On September 28, 2018, the prime minister Tun Dr. Mahathir bin Mohamad addressed the UN General Assembly where new government has to "ratify all remaining core UN instruments related to the protection of human rights", this include ICERD and other five unratified conventions. However, Khairy Jamaluddin debating the UN address that raised concerns about ICERD's impact on bumiputra privileges and special position of Malay and Islam in the country.[4] On 19 November 2018, in Parliament, Waytha Moorthy, who is in charge of National Unity and Social Wellbeing, started speaking on the intention of the government in ratifying ICERD and said that consultations with relevant stakeholders would be held in the first quarter of 2019. This was opposed by the opposition and started to attack him.[5]

On November 23, 2018, the Prime Minister's Office have announced to not ratify the convention and continue defending the Federal Constitution which contains a social contract that has been agreed upon by all races during the formation of the country.[6]

Participants

While the organizers have set a target of half-million people to attend the rally, the Kuala Lumpur police's official figures have estimated 55,000 people attending the rally (mostly PAS supporters),[7] including PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang and former prime minister Najib Razak. In Kelantan, the state government have declared public holiday on the next day (9 December 2018) to allow Kelantanese people to attend the rally in Kuala Lumpur[8]. The organisers, however, claimed that the amount of participants reached more than 300,000 based on their own estimation[9].

Rally

On the day of the rally before the rally started in 2pm, the silat alliance Pertubuhan Gabungan Silat Pertahan Perlembagaan (PERTAHAN) submitted a memorandum to the Yang Di-Pertuan Agong to express their protest over ICERD and other issues.[10]

The rally started at 2pm with mass crowds marching to Dataran Merdeka from Masjid Negara, Masjid Jamek and Sogo complex and ended early at 5pm due to heavy rain.

Aftermath

References
  1. "Gathering ends after prayer to shorten Harapan's rule". Malaysiakini. 8 December 2018. Retrieved 29 May 2020.
  2. "PAS and Umno to hold anti-Icerd rally in KL on Dec 8 - Malaysiakini". Malaysiakini. Retrieved 17 November 2018.
  3. "Anti-ICERD rally on Dec 8 to go on, but this time to celebrate - The Star Online". The Star Online. Retrieved 23 November 2018.
  4. "The ICERD Outrage". Malaysiakini.
  5. Carvaho, Martin; Sivanandam, Hemananthani; Rahim, Rahimy; Tan, Tarrence (19 November 2018). "Opposition lawmakers protesting ICERD start 'racist' chant against Waytha". The Star. Malaysia. Retrieved 7 June 2020.
  6. "Govt not ratifying ICERD - The Star Online". The Star Online. Retrieved 24 November 2018.
  7. "Anti ICERD rally: So, what's the estimate?". New Straits Times. Retrieved 8 December 2018.
  8. "In Kelantan, you get a Sunday off thanks to the anti-ICERD rally". The Malay Mail. Retrieved 5 December 2018.
  9. Razali, Oleh Safeek Affendy (8 December 2018). "Perhimpunan ICERD dihadiri 55,000 orang - Polis KL". BH Online (in Malay). Retrieved 9 January 2020.
  10. "Silat alliance submits memo on ICERD, Malay issues at Istana Negara". New Straits Times. Retrieved 8 December 2018.
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