Dr M did us a favour by not attending Human Rights Day event, says Suhakam chairman

(The Star) – Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s absence at the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia’s (Suhakam) Human Rights Day gathering has done them a favour, says Tan Sri Razali Ismail.

The Suhakam chairman said this made the public keen on finding out more about the event.

“The Prime Minister has, in his own way, done us a favour.

“Because he is not here, people have suddenly become more interested, and they have come today asking questions and showed interest on different (human rights) issues,” said Razali.

He said that while Dr Mahathir had declined to attend the event, the Prime Minister is a “master strategist, and everything he says has to be viewed on a larger scale”.

He said this to reporters at the Human Rights Day celebration at Padang Timur here on Sunday (Dec 9).

Dr Mahathir was supposed to be the guest of honour at the event. But he did not attend the gathering because “Suhakam wants to accept Icerd (International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination).”

“I decided that we will not accept Icerd. So, how can I go?” Dr Mahathir said on Saturday (Dec 8).

The Human Rights Day celebration was initially supposed to take place on Saturday at Padang Timur, while the anti-Icerd rally was held in Kuala Lumpur.

However, on Dec 7, Suhakam had decided to postpone the celebration to Sunday after being advised to do so by Dr Mahathir and the police.

Dr Mahathir said the celebration had to be postponed because the police were shorthanded and would face difficulties handling the two events in separate locations.