We, the Working Group for the Ratification of InternationalConvention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD-WG)[1] and BERSIH 2.0, call upon leaders, candidates, members and supporters of all political parties to refrain and immediately stop the use of race and religion as a political tool in their campaign for the 14th General Election.
As the 14th General Elections approaches, the ICERD-WG which is part of PEMANTAU have identified few politicians who have constantly use race and religion as a political tool to garner votes from the members of their constituency.
We condemn these politicians, especially Dato’ Sri Mohd Najib Tun Razak, the Chairperson of Barisan Nasional and the caretaker Prime Minister of Malaysia, who has been consistently using racial and religious politics in his political campaign.
We are deeply concerned and disgusted for his inconsistency with the idea of 1Malaysia campaign that he had initiated during his premiership. We believe, the usage of racial and religious politics in the campaign, especially from a national leader like him not just promote but normalize racism and racial discriminations in the country which further erode the social fabric that binds Malaysians.
We would like to remind all leaders of political parties and candidates of the 14th General Election that any statements that promotes feeling of ill-well between different races is an offense under the Election Offences Act, Section 4a (1) which states that:
“Any person who, before, during or after an election, directly or indirectly, by himself or by any other person on his behalf, does any act or makes any statement with a view or with a tendency to promote feelings of ill-will, discontent or hostility between persons of the same race or different races or of the same class or different classes of the population of Malaysia in order to induce any elector or voter to vote or refrain from voting at an election or to procure or endeavour to procure the election of any person shall be liable, on conviction, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years or to a fine not exceeding ten thousand ringgit or to both such imprisonment and fine.”
Therefore, we urge all politicians to stop the usage of racial and religious politics and call upon relevant statutory agencies such as the Elections Commission (EC) and the Royal Malaysian Police (PDRM) to take swift and appropriate action to reprimand any individual or party that were found inciting hate and fear during the elections.
With more than 60 years of nationhood with the tradition of embracing cultural, religious and ethnic diversity, it is a moral obligation for Malaysians to stand up and reject cheap and guttered politic that is based on race and religion in this coming election.
We urge all Malaysians to report incidences of racial and religious politics to Pemantau or through the Raport Racism application and further encourage to also report such incidences to relevant statutory institutions.
[1] ICERD-WG consists of Islamic Renaissance Front (IRF), Lawyers for Liberty, Human Rights Committee of The Malaysian Bar Council, Projek Dialog, Pusat KOMAS, Suara Rakyat Malaysia (SUARAM), Society for the Promotion of Human Rights (PROHAM) and Tenaganita.