KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 30 ― Umno’s Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz has distanced himself from a planned rally on December 8 to oppose the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD), saying he will not attend such an event.

The Barisan Nasional (BN) secretary-general was quoted telling New Straits Times he is already happy with Putrajaya’s decision to not ratify the international human rights convention.

"I won’t go because I am happy with the decision made by Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad,” he was quoted saying.

The former minister also discouraged Umno members and leaders from attending the rally.

"I can’t stop them if they want to, but it comes down to what you really want,” he reportedly said.

Umno, PAS and other Malay-Muslim groups are planning to go ahead with the rally, despite not applying to hold the event.