BN MP: Malaysia must be ‘kiasu’ and join TPP

By Malaysiakini

LIVE REPORTS

12.50pm: Liang Teck Meng (BN) Simpang Renggam says Malaysia must cast aside its fears about the TPPA.

“We must not be ‘kiasi’ (unwilling to die), we must be ‘kiasu’ (unwilling to lose),” Liang said, using the Chinese words normally used to express competitiveness and unwillingness to be beaten by others.

He said by being ‘kiasu’, Malaysia would not be left behind countries, such as Singapore and Vietnam, in terms of economic progress.

Marcus Mojigoh (BN-Putatan) then interjected to take a potshot at the opposition for being two-faced about the US.

“Somethings you seek the US for help, but for this (TPPA) you condemn the US. Kenapa suka main belakang ni? (Why do you prefer to use the backdoor)” Marcus said.

This appears to be a veiled jab at PKR, which has sought intervention by the US to secure the release of Anwar Ibrahim, who has been jailed for sodomy.

12.40pm: Lim Guan Eng (DAP-Bagan) announces that DAP wholly rejects the TPP agreement.

In his speech, the DAP secretary-general said the people are not convinced that the price of medicines will not go up with the TPP.

“We were told that prices would not go up when the goods and services tax was implemented. This has proved to be untrue.

“If we can’t trust the GST, what more the TPP agreement?” Lim said.

Khalid Abdul Samad (Amanah-Shah Alam) then slammed Noor Azmi Ghazali (BN-Bagan Serai) who had said the government would intervene if the prices of medicines went up.

“The government can’t interfere with free trade. It’s clear that BN lawmakers don’t understand the TPP agreement despite saying that they do,” Khalid said.

in his speech earlier, Lim also praised Mustapa as a capable minister.

“I praise Tokpa (Mustapa’s) expertise, even though we don’t agree with him. But at least when he speaks, he uses his brains,” Lim, who is also Penang chief minister, said.

He also expressed concern whether Malaysia would be able to properly implement the TPP agreement, claiming that besides Mustapa, no one else in the cabinet understood the pact.

12.00pm: Ahmad Hamzah (BN-Jasin), representing the BN backbenchers, says that there is an exit clause in the TPP agreement, which allows any signatory country to leave the pact with a six months’ notice.

Ahmad is part of the parliamentary caucus on TPP. Earlier in his speech, he said the BN lawmakers were at first doubtful of the TPP agreement.

“But with the caucus, everything was made clear,” he said.

Ahmad added that it was on the suggestion of the parliamentary caucus that the trade pact is being debated in the Dewan Rakyat today.

11.15am: Wan Azizah urges BN whip to instruct and allow all its lawmakers to vote TPP agreement based on conscience and in secret.

“If we can negotiate TPPA in secret, then we can allow the lawmakers to vote in secret,” she says.

“Why there is a need to rush to sign TPPA? We signed the Malaysia Agreement in 1963 only to discuss its implementation after 50 years, and before Sarawak state election,” Wan Azizah adds.

She says the TPPA is not a trade agreement between two even countries, and makes Malaysia succumb to multinational corporations.

Wan Azizah adds TPPA is like a privatisation project, saying “if we support this motion, then we are supporting the privatisation of our sovereignty to these firms”.

She also calls for a public referendum on whether or not Malaysia should sign the TPPA, so that the people can decide whether or not they want to be “colonised”.

“If there could have been a referendum on the Pangkor Agreement and the Malayan Union, we could have changed history,” she says.

11.00am: After Mustapa ends his presentation, Hanipa gets up to ask the international trade and industry minister if the special parliamentary session is just to debate on whether to sign the TPPA, or to ratify it as well.

“I understand that other countries don’t sign and ratify (the TPPA) at the same time, like Canada,” Hanipa says.

Speaker Pandikar Amin Mulia however rules that there is no need for the minister to clarify this for now, saying that the matter can be raised during the debate, and can be answered in the minister’s winding-up speech.

Pandikar then allocates 30 minutes each for opposition leader Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, and a representative of the BN backbenchers’ council to debate the TPPA motion.

He says 15 MPs each from BN and the opposition can then debate on whether to sign the agreement for 20 minutes each.

10.40am: Mustapa brings out several items to support the argument for Malaysian to sign the TPPA, as a way for the country’s businesses to penetrate US and Canadian markets.

He produces a car’s spring coil, a fuse box, a pair of track pants and a prosthetic hand with a rubber glove, to demonstrate how Malaysian automotive and electronic products as well as textiles can be sold in North America, thanks to the TPPA.

“With the TPPA, (the five percent) excise duty on 99.8 percent of electrical and electronic products will be abolished immediately.

“Import tax on textile products will be reduced by 70 percent, and this will boost exports of Malaysian textiles by 30 percent,” the minister said.

10.30am: Mustapa says if the opposition is opposed to the TPPA, then Lim Guan Eng (DAP-Bagan) and Azmin Ali (PKR-Gombak), should shut down InvestPenang and InvestSelangor.

This is because these too are mechanisms to attract foreign investments, just like the TPPA.

He then goes on to say how Malaysia too could be successful, like Singapore, with the TPPA.

Opposition MPs were quick to mock this, with Hanipa Maidin (Amanah-Sepang) saying “Singapore doesn’t have Umno.”

Mahfuz Omar (PAS-Pokok Sena) added, “Singapore doesn’t have 1MDB.”

Mustapa is unperturbed by the jabs and continues reading his speech.

10.15am: Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (Ideas) chief executive Wan Saiful Wan Jan and two others distribute the institute’s policy paper on TPPA to the parliamentarians.

“We hope the lawmakers will include the content in their debate,” said Sri Murniati, the manager of political economy and government unit.

“We opine that TPPA can contribute to better governance, in terms of transparency,” Sri Murniati said, adding that the government should sign the trade agreement.

The security officers allow Ideas staff to stay at Parliament lobby and give out a total 150 copies of their policy paper to the lawmakers before they enter the House.

10.10am: Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Azalina Othman Said tables a motion for today’s session to end at 7pm. It is approved.

International Trade and Industry Minister Mustapa Mohamad then moves the motion for Parliament to debate the TPPA.

The motion is whether the House agrees that Malaysia’s involvement in the TPPA would strengthen the country’s “competitiveness, regionally and globally.”

The TPPA, Mustapa says, is in line with Malaysia being a country that practices an open economy. The motion he reads out also calls on all parties to work together to achieve the TPPA’s goals.

He is the first to person to debate the motion, outlining efforts to educate the public about the TPPA, and the trade pact’s benefits.

Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak is in Parliament today, together with his deputy, Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.

10am: A group of about 30 protesters, comprising mainly DAP, PKR and Amanah members, gather outside the Parliament gate and protest against the TPPA.

They carry placards with the words “Tolak TPPA” and “TPPA is selling country”.

They call on people passing by in vehicles to sound their horns in support of the opposition to the TPPA. However, there is little enthusiastic reaction from the public, with just a few car drivers letting off their horns.

9am: Parliament will today begin debating whether or not to sign the controversial Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA).

The two-day special parliamentary session has been lauded by the government as an example of democracy in Malaysia.

However, the opposition calls it a farce as BN has the numbers, all of whom have been told to toe the party line, to give Putrajaya the go-ahead to ink the pact.

The TPPA is a multinational free trade agreement in which the United States is the main proponent. It involves 12 Asian and Pacific Rim countries.

Critics fear that the TPPA will wipe out local businesses as well as threaten Malaysia’s sovereignty due to a clause in the agreement allowing foreign corporations to sue the government for actions that would result in loss of profits.

(More to follow)