KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 7 — PAS called on Putrajaya today to take Malaysia out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA), citing the weakening ringgit and growing trust deficit for the government whom it accused of failing to explain the impact of the trade deal.

PAS information chief Nasrudin Hassan said the risks of the TPPA were too high amid the ongoing “national level trust crisis”, especially with the government having not clarified issues with the free trade deal that will affect state-owned enterprises (SOE) and government procurement, among others.

“The question is, what assurances are given by the government that the decision that would be made on the deal would not be harmful to political policies and the nation’s core economic sectors?” he said in a statement today.

“Therefore, PAS firmly demands that the government removes itself from the negotiations (of TPPA), considering the rakyat’s main worries over sensitive issues have failed to be explained with conviction and transparency,” he added.

He added that since the ministerial TPPA negotiations at Maui, Hawaii, which ended last week, the government of Malaysia seemed leaning towards signing the trade deal which is currently being negotiated between the US, Malaysia and nine other countries.

The agreement seeks to reduce trade barriers among several countries on the Pacific Rim and looks to be one of the biggest free trade agreement in history.

However, there is growing criticism as negotiations have been made secretive, and leaked documents have shown contents of the negotiation to be detrimental to smaller and medium enterprises, as well as SOEs and Government Linked Companies (GLC).

On its secrecy, Nasruddin further criticised the International Trade and Industry Ministry's involvement, saying it did not allow public debate or for parliamentarians to determine its impact on the country.

“The people have still not been informed of the substantive agreement, including the cost-benefit analysis from the negotiations,” he said.

Among the loudest critics against Malaysia signing the TPPA is the Malay Economic Action Council (MTEM), who has stated that the deal would result in more expensive books and medicine, as well as affect Bumiputera policies.

Klang MP Charles Santiago has also criticised the TPPA and accused the US of prioritising the deal over human rights after the US upgraded Malaysia’s ranking in the Trafficking in Persons (TIP) report, which has allowed Malaysia to participate in the TPPA.