KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 6 — All relevant stakeholders in Malaysia must be given sufficient time to scrutinise and deliberate the final text of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) before it is signed by all parties, PKR’s Nurul Izzah Anwar said.
The Lembah Pantai MP, who is also a member of the TPPA caucus in Parliament, demanded that Putrajaya ensures the full text is disclosed to members of the august House and said federal lawmakers here as well as members of civil society must not be left behind in discussions.
She noted that the US Congress will be given 90 days to deliberate the pact’s details before it is signed and said the same respect must be given to parties in Malaysia.
“We must ensure Prime Minister Najib Razak is held responsible and answerable to the promises he and his government have made in the treaty.
“Malaysia should not be left behind in strengthening parliamentary democracy through proper scrutiny of trade agreements — especially one that is expected to run more than hundreds of pages; involve 12 nations and affect Malaysia in a multitude of areas other than just trade,” she said in a statement here.
Last night, it was announced in a press conference in Atlanta, Georgia in the United States that 12 nations including Malaysia have reached a final agreement on the the TPPA, the largest regional trade accord in history.
Those representing the countries involved in the pact must now seek approval to ratify the deal.
According to international reports, the Pacific agreement would phase out thousands of import tariffs as well as other barriers to international trade and establish uniform rules on corporations’ intellectual property, and open the Internet.
Critics have been criticising the secrecy with which the deal is being negotiated, claiming that it would, among other things, undermine the sovereignty of signatory nations and make drugs more expensive in member countries.
Late last night, International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed sought to allay concerns in Malaysia following reports on the conclusion of talks on the TPPA in the US, saying this does not mean the country has formally agreed to anything.
“Let me reiterate that whether or not Malaysia becomes a party to the TPPA will be a collective decision,” he said in a statement.
“Once the complete and official text of the Agreement is prepared, it will be in the public domain and presented to Parliament for debate.”
Mustapa said that Putrajaya will hold full consultations with interested parties and the public, adding that Malaysia will not be party to any deal that violates the Federal Constitution or undermines government policies implemented to benefit Malaysians.
But Nurul Izzah noted today that Mustapa himself had not even been present during talks in the US yesterday and was instead represented by another official.
This, she said, raises a red flag as to how such an important trade negotiation is being handled by Putrajaya.
She stressed on the importance of Malaysians benefitting from the controversial deal, noting that the pact touches a number of pertinent areas affecting the public such as the prices of medicines, protection of intellectual property, the status of our state owned enterprises (Khazanah, Petronas, Tenaga Nasional Berhad, etc), the actual stranglehold of the Investor-State Dispute Settlement Mechanism on our Judiciary, streamlined labour rights, and the impact of foreign businesses on existing Small and Medium Sized Enterprises, to name a few.
“The fight to ensure that TPPA is negotiated in the best interest for the Rakyat will not end until it is signed and we will ensure that we will be there until the very end,” she said.
