Saifuddin claimed Anwar had commented that the Rome Statute and International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD) was brought up by the then foreign minister without approval from the Cabinet.

“It is confirmed that the Cabinet had a meeting on Dec 12, 2018, and decided to ratify the Rome Statute,” Saifuddin, the foreign minister during the Pakatan Harapan administration from 2018 until 2020, told the Dewan Rakyat this afternoon.

“ICERD was under the jurisdiction and portfolio of the unity minister at that time.”

Johari later confirmed that he had received the letter from Saifuddin and had consulted his legal team about it.

“I have written a letter to Tambun (Anwar). As soon as I receive a response from Tambun, I will decide and inform Indera Mahkota,” he said.

The PH government decided to drop its plan to ratify ICERD after it encountered stiff resistance from various sectors of the community over fears that it would affect Malay rights, the powers of the rulers, and the sanctity of Islam in the country.

In 2022, former unity minister P Waytha Moorthy denied a claim by Saifuddin, then his Cabinet colleague, that he was the “lead” minister handling the attempted ratification of ICERD.

He accused Saifuddin of telling a “blatant lie”, saying it was not his job as the then national unity minister to negotiate the ICERD ratification.