PETALING JAYA: Khairy Jamaluddin has called for the resignation of Foreign Affairs Minister Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah over the blunder surrounding the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD).
The Former Youth and Sports Minister blamed the controversy on Saifuddin and the Foreign Ministry, claiming they did not think it through before announcing they would ratify the convention.
This, he said, had led the government to an embarrassing backtrack, referring to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) statement earlier today not to ratify ICERD.
“(They) caused this major blunder by not thinking this through and convincing @chedetofficial (Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad) to make the commitment at UNGA (United Nations General Assembly). Not Wisma Putra’s finest hour.
“The minister should take responsibility and resign. This is not a small blunder. The commitment was made at UNGA. Not some kampung ceramah.
“We (opposition) never agreed to ICERD. The minister must be responsible because he over-committed himself to implement something the majority of the rakyat would never support. He didn’t think this through,“ Khairy said in a series of tweets today.
Khairy’s posts on Twitter came just moments after the PMO announced the government would not go ahead with its plans to ratify ICERD.
Pakatan Harapan (PH) has been receiving brickbats over the past week over its plan for the ratification, with both Mahathir and prime minister-in-waiting Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim also previously calling for the deferment of ICERD.
Khairy has also urged the organisers of the proposed Dec 8 anti-ICERD rally to call off the programme following the PMO’s announcement after the organisers said it would go on, but on grounds of celebration.
“The government has shelved plans to ratify ICERD. This is the time to ‘lower the temperature’ of the country’s politics. It’s better not to carry on,“ he said.
Meanwhile, on his own Twitter account, Saifuddin dismissed claims that he had rushed the plan to ratify the convention.
“Who is rushing? No one is rushing it. I’ve said this many times. No one is rushing it,“ he said in reply to tweets from the public.
