Quitting TPPA will make Malaysia bankrupt, says Dr Mahathir

Putrajaya says the country could withdraw from the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement anytime, but Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad says it will lead to suits against the government. – The Malaysian Insider file pic, December 31, 2015.

Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad today dismissed Putrajaya's assurances that Malaysia could choose to withdraw from the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA), saying such a move would leave Malaysia practically bankrupt.

The former prime minister said withdrawing from TPPA after signing the deal would pave the way for loss-making companies to sue Malaysia in courts that Putrajaya cannot "pressure or bribe".

"A decision to withdraw from the TPPA will obviously result in loss of profit and future profits by companies investing in Malaysia or trading with Malaysia," wrote Dr Mahathir on his blog.

"The withdrawal will involve numerous companies and the purported loss will run into hundreds of billions. The court will not be ours where we can count on sympathy and concern for what will happen to our economy and finances.

"There is also no way we can pressure or bribe the courts. We will just have to pay the billions."

Dr Mahathir said even without the treaty, Malaysia is already the 17th biggest trading nation in the world.

He said Malaysia was then free to protect itself, devise policies beneficial to all Malaysians, and trade with whomever it wanted to.

He added that TPPA was not for promoting free trade, but "entirely dedicated to regulating trade".

"I can say a lot of other things which are bad about the TPPA. But the government wouldn’t care of course.

"The government will do what it wants to do. Don’t ask why. You know what answer you will get when you ask the government any question."

Bernama reported that a special parliamentary session to decide on Malaysia's participation in TPPA was scheduled at the end of January next year.

Minister of International Trade and Industry, Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed, said it would involve a two-day sitting in the Dewan Rakyat and a day at the Dewan Negara.

The TPPA negotiations, first launched in 2005, involved 12 countries, including Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the US and Vietnam.

- TMI