COMMENT | The International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination is observed annually on March 21. On that day in 1960, South African police opened fire and killed 69 people at a peaceful demonstration against apartheid laws in Sharpeville, South Africa.

Subsequently, the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed this day as a date for special observance and called on the international community to redouble its efforts to eliminate all forms of racial discrimination.

The International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (Icerd) was adopted and opened for ratification by the UN General Assembly in 1965.

A repeat of ‘May 13’ if Icerd ratified

As Malaysians know very well, the ratification of Icerd has proven to be most elusive through successive regimes. During the years of BN rule with Umno's de facto dominance, this question was non-negotiable.

When the new Pakatan Harapan coalition came into office in May 2018, their administration was marked by flip-flops on implementing the reforms they had promised voters in their GE14 manifesto.

The Harapan government decided to...