Mahathir’s U-turn on UN race treaty: for Malaysia, a necessary - if backwards - step?

Mahathir’s U-turn on a UN racial discrimination treaty calls into question its acceptance of other rights accords and its suitability as a role model for Muslim nations.

Even so, some defend it saying Malaysia is just not ready

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Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad has backtracked on a vow to ratify an international convention against racial discrimination. Photo: EPA

Published: 8:33am, 2 Dec 2018Updated: 8:33am, 2 Dec 2018

Malaysia’s U-turn on adopting a United Nations treaty against racial discrimination has raised doubts about its ratification of other human rights treaties, just months after Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad promised the UN he would ratify all remaining rights-related conventions.

Last week, the ruling Pakatan Harapan coalition announced it would not ratify the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD), seemingly in response to pressure from the majority Malay population. Malay rights groups and the opposition had claimed the treaty would strip Malays of special affirmative-action privileges afforded by the constitution, with some politicians warning of riots if the convention were ratified.

In a statement explaining the reversal, the prime minister’s office said the government would uphold the federal constitution, which contains a “social contract” agreed upon by all races during the nation’s formation. Mahathir had previously noted that ratifying ICERD would require a constitutional amendment, a near impossibility as the government does not hold a two-thirds parliamentary majority.

The reversal, against the backdrop of Malaysia’s sometimes fraught race-based politics, has raised doubts about the fate of other international rights conventions, including the Convention Against Torture and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

Member of Parliament Charles Santiago said the decision “placed a question mark on all the remaining UN treaties”, particularly as the conservative opposition Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS) has demanded the government not ratify the conventions as they “threaten the nation”.

Santiago, a member of the Democratic Action Party, said the U-turn sent a message to the opposition bloc, which includes the former ruling United Malays National Organisation, that sabre-rattling is rewarded.

“This is the only way Umno knows how to rile people up, and is part of its attempts to hold on to the Malay vote,” Santiago said. “By giving in, we have given them more control over the Malay base. We should have come up with a proper strategy on how to introduce and follow through with ratifying this treaty.”