DAP’s Kluang MP Liew Chin Tong said Foreign Minister Anifah Aman’s response to his queries on Malaysia’s failed bid for a seat on the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) did not provide satisfactory answers.

“Unfortunately, despite his long reply, he did not say much, and when he did, they were mostly excuses instead of real answers.

“The minister did not tell us why we lost our bid for the UNHRC seat, why Malaysia was rejected by member countries, and how much we had spent to lobby for the seat that we lost,” Liew said in a press statement today.

He also said the minister was being “condescending” towards him in the reply by alleging that Liew’s question had “a sinister hope” that “Malaysia’s unsuccessful bid has and will taint the country’s reputation and image in international fora.”

Anifah had said in his reply that the reasons for the unsuccessful bid for the seat could potentially include member states backing a first-time candidate; early submission of candidature; and the inability to campaign aggressively due to limited financial resources.

He said that contrary to Liew’s “insinuation,” the foreign ministry was extremely frugal in its campaigning efforts.

However, he did not appear to elaborate on the other given reasons.

Liew criticised all three points, saying that if the government already knew about member states backing first-time candidates, then Malaysia should not have bothered competed.

“Malaysia’s foreign policy is resilient enough to withstand situations such as this, and we will continue to pursue a policy which places the nation’s interest above all else, irrespective of how many councils, bodies or organisations we are part of,” Anifah (photo) said in a statement.

However, Liew also wondered if Malaysia made a late submission as a candidate for the seat.

“From what I gathered, Malaysia submitted in January, which was not late at all,” he said.

On the issue of campaign funds, Liew asked what the minister was trying to imply in his response.

“(Is he saying) that other countries have used a lot of money? Or that we failed to match them in terms of money spent on the campaign? Or we didn’t use money?

“What does the minister mean? How much money was spent and how was the campaign conducted? This is important because it involves taxpayers’ money,” he stressed.

Malaysia 'an active member' previously

Anifah, who is the Kimanis MP, also praised Malaysia’s track record at the UN and its performance on human rights panels in the past.

“...Malaysia was an active member of the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) for three terms before the commission was dissolved. Subsequently, Malaysia has been on the Human Rights Council (HRC) twice before, that is 2006-2009, and 2010-2013.

“During Malaysia’s most recent term, the HRC had taken bold and decisive steps on a number of human rights situations around the world including Libya, Syria and on the situation in occupied Palestine,” he said.

Liew then queried whether there is more than meets the eye with regards to Malaysia’s failure to secure a seat on the UNHRC.

“Did we fail because member countries rejected our pledges and commitments? ...Is it because Malaysia’s reputation has been tarnished by Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak’s global scandals?” he questioned.

He urged Anifah to provide real answers in Parliament next week, to explain this “major diplomatic failure.”