KANGAR, Nov 6 — Perlis Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Azlan Man has called on the federal government to conduct an in-depth study on the impact of adopting the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD).

He said the federal government should consider the long-term effects it would have on the country should ICERD be implemented.

"It is not proper for the government to make a decision on the insistence of certain parties,” he told reporters when met after the ‘Jom Memancing Muafakat Komuniti Malaysia’ (MKM) programme at Kampung Wang Besar, Bintong here today.

He said the move by Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad to hold talks involving representatives of all races was the best way to address the issue.

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department P. Waytha Moorthy had earlier said that Malaysia would ratify the ICERD as well as five other treaties on human rights as early as the first quarter of next year.

Waytha Moorthy’s statement had raised anxiety among several quarters who believed that the implementation of ICERD could affect the special rights and privileges of the Malays and other Bumiputera community.

In another development, Azlan said the state government would not follow Kelantan in its move to institute a night curfew for teenagers to help curb social ills as the situation in Perlis was still under control. — Bernama